Spotlight
by N. Hubris
Summary: She fell in love with him, a psychopath. He'd probably kill her if she ever told him. Really, why didn't she stop herself when she had the chance? Oh, that's right. You always want what you can't have. HisokaxOC.
1. Room Service

Hello everyone, and thank you for choosing to look at this fanfic! So this particular story was inspired by... reality! Well, not really, but for the sake of argument... How so, you ask? Well, I assumed it would be a lot more plausible to think that a girl would fall in love with Hisoka first, rather than the other way around. So, this story explores that. It's going to be bloody difficult, but hopefully it goes well!

I must admit that I'm being a bit ambitious, writing two stories at a time. But I'm currently in a writing frenzy, so who am I to stop myself?

Here we go!

Disclaimer: I do not own Hunter x Hunter. I wish I did. Really. I would write myself into the story.

**Spotlight**

**Chapter One: Room Service**

It all began on a sunny Saturday afternoon, as most other things do. Ayaka was walking to the grocery store to pick up a cheap lunch when she discovered a colorful coupon on the ground. She had to be honest; money had been pretty tight lately, so she wasn't above picking up a dirty piece of paper if it meant a few jenny off. She glanced from side to side before quickly scooping it up from the sidewalk. To her disappointment though, it wasn't a coupon for food or toiletries, or anything useful, really.

"Heavens Arena," she read out loud as she started walking again. "Hundreds of matches everyday. Buy one ticket and get the next half off. It will change your life!"

Ayaka stuck her tongue out.

"That's the worst way to advertise," she said, crumpling the piece of paper and sticking her hand into the big mouth of the public trashcan. She was about to let it go when she stopped herself for a moment, and it was this moment, really, that made all the difference. She retracted her hand and paused.

"It will change your life, huh," she said, un-crumpling the coupon and turning it over to the other side. "Oh, they're hiring. A thousand jenny per hour!"

A few people looked her way, but she was used to it. After all, she had the embarrassing habit of talking to herself in public. It's not that she didn't care. She did. Very much. She just had a little trouble controlling herself sometimes.

And right then, she decided that she would work at the Heavens Arena. Maybe because she was tired of eating cheap grocery food. Maybe because she was tired of babysitting kids that smelled funny. Maybe she just wanted to be reckless for once and maybe because she really did want to change her life. Or maybe because someone was waiting for her.

_A little plaything_

_With lifeless eyes,_

_Loved by a child_

_With soulless cries_

The monstrosity of a building tore through the feathery white clouds, madly towering over the rest of the polluted and dense city. Ayaka's blue eyes wandered upwards, and she wondered to herself if, on a clear day, she would be able to see the top all the way from below. She shrugged it off as she walked through the perpetually revolving doors and into the pleasantly air-conditioned lobby. The entire floor was crowded with people, mostly men, a handful of boys, and even fewer girls scattered here and there. Ayaka wasn't particularly short, but she was no basketball player either. She craned her neck to see through the sea of people, who were happily talking about this and that, for someone who worked there. It wasn't long until she found a girl who looked like she did.

"Hey!" Ayaka greeted happily. "Is that your uniform?"

"Yes, it is," she replied with extremely fake courtesy, which was probably part of company policy. "Can I help you?"

The girl she was talking to was wearing a matching pink hat and shirt, which was tight around the waist and was long like a dress. A white collar peeped from underneath. Both the hat and shirt had a cartoon fist seemingly popping outwards, surrounded by comical yellow jagged lines as if saying, "POW!" And finally, white leggings. How...attractive. Whatever the case, it was eye-catching, ugly, and as she learned later on, very mandatory. Beggars can't be choosers.

"I saw an ad that you guys are hiring," Ayaka explained, already using her strong business voice. "Do you know who I should talk to?"

Almost immediately, the girl appeared to be taken over with relief as she grabbed Ayaka's hands in excitement. Was there a hint of happy tears in her eyes? Maybe Ayaka was a bit too full of herself at the moment. After all, she just had a manicure the other day. She was sporting really seductive-looking red nails and, well, she _thought _they looked pretty sexy.

"Yes! Yes we're hiring!" the girl shouted, slightly dropping her politeness from earlier as she dragged Ayaka towards the back part of the lobby. "We're actually really low on staff this week! Were you sent from heaven? Haha, get it? Anyway, ever since Hisoka-san came back, a lot of people have been calling in sick!"

Ayaka laughed nervously. People calling in sick? And a lot of them? That wasn't a good sign. But hey, working at a place called "Heavens Arena" was probably hundreds of times better than wiping a child's butt for money. Two hundred jenny an hour worth of wiping, to be exact.

"I'm Honmei, by the way," she said, shaking her hand enthusiastically, as if they had already sealed the deal. "I'm the human resources manager. So when can you start?"

"Start? Wait, what? I'm hired?"

"Yes, you are!" she said, leading her through another set of hallways, and Ayaka realized that this girl liked to emphasize her yeses. "We'll do the paperwork later. Let's get your uniform! What's your size? You're probably a medium, right? We need someone in the room service department ASAP! Tie your hair up, will you? Company policy!"

Ayaka was dazed. This girl was talking about five hundred miles per hour, and somehow, she understood all of it, despite all the noise around them. Ever the obedient employee, Ayaka immediately tied her dirty blonde hair in a high ponytail. Good thing she didn't throw the rubber band from the newspaper today.

_This time, I'll say no_

_This time, I'll be the one_

_To take the knife_

_And cut the flesh_

Turns out, she'd find out who this "Hisoka-san" was earlier than she thought she would. Apparently, as the winner of some battle, he got his own floor in the Heavens Arena - the topmost penthouse suite, in fact - and his room service was free. What a lucky guy.

As Ayaka waited for the staff elevator to reach the 251st floor, she wondered what he looked like. Being the best fighter, he was probably big and burly, like a grizzly bear or a dinosaur, the big and scary kind. He probably smelled like day-old sweat and wore nothing but gym clothes. Nothing could have prepared her for the truth.

When the elevator beeped and the doors opened to reveal the suite, Ayaka swore that for the briefest moment, her lungs had collapsed and her heart had failed. She couldn't take a single breath of air, like she had been dumped into a vacuum-sealed box. It was a shocking feeling, like being pushed from behind while also being pushed from the front. Like she was caught in a stampede. She choked inaudibly and clung to the food cart she had brought with her in order to steady herself. And just as it started, it ended. Like waking up from a nightmare, it was so quick that she believed it to be her imagination. It wasn't real. Maybe she was just nervous. But she tasted the iron-rich blood in her mouth. She had accidentally bitten her tongue.

"Room service!" she said, ignoring herself. "Hisoka-san?"

She pushed the cart inwards slowly, looking around the seemingly empty but beautifully furnished floor. It really looked high class, like a five-star hotel, complete with a leather-themed living room, a full stainless steel kitchen, and two bedrooms, whose interiors she couldn't see. It smelled faintly of lemongrass, and it reminded her of her short stint as a fragrance tester. Ahh, the things she did for money.

"Hisoka-san?" she called out, pushing the cart further inside. She cursed under her breath. Honmei didn't tell her what to do if nobody was home. Was she supposed to leave the cart or come back later? Maybe he was asleep. Or in the bathroom. Should she just wait?

The bedroom door suddenly creaked open, and Hisoka walked out... with only a small towel around his narrow waist. She was right about his being in the bathroom… but boy, was she wrong about what she imagined he'd look like. He was a god among men.

"Is that for me?" he asked, his voice light and teasing. His lips were curled upwards in a grin.

"Y-yes!" she replied immediately, taking a short bow. "This is your dinner."

She glanced at his wet orange hair, which was still dripping wet from taking a shower. His skin was absolutely taut and flawless, freshly exfoliated with a soft loofah, courtesy of the management. Her eyes wandered off to his large biceps and six-pack abs, which were chiseled and shaped to perfection. How tall was he? His head was almost touching the doorway! His eyes were a blazing azure color, and they looked entertained.

"Ahh! I'm sorry!" she said, bowing again. Exactly how long did she stare at him for? She was going to get fired! "Enjoy your dinner! Please give us a call if you need anything!"

She ran to the elevator and quickly pressed the button three times until it responded. She forced herself to look at the ground; why was the elevator taking so long! Was he still looking at her? Did he notice that she had been staring at him? She knew that she should have kept her eyes down, but curiosity was a terrible thing. Right before the two doors kissed each other closed, she raised her gaze and their eyes met again. And it was at that moment, she realized later, that she had fallen in love with him. Yet he was laughing at her beet-red face.

End of Chapter 1!

So? What did you think? Please review! I dearly like this idea, so let me know what you think!


	2. Survival Skills

Hello, everyone, and thank you for your continued support! With this update, I say: Happy Thanksgiving! It's a great excuse to eat more food in one sitting than I would in three days, so I am so excited.

Here we go!

* * *

><p><strong>Spotlight<strong>

**Chapter Two: Survival Skills**

* * *

><p>Ayaka's head was spinning. Round and round the staff room went, swirling like a toilet flushing itself down. She was so hungry. Working for eight straight hours really did take a lot out of her. Good thing the last set of matches, fights, or whatever they really were, had just ended. Downtime was good.<p>

But really, she was still busy. In her head, at least. She couldn't stop thinking about the man she had just met. Hisoka. He was just her type. Actually, he was probably everybody's type, both men and women alike, considering his gorgeous body and satin-like skin. But it was his eyes that got to her. They were so malicious. So beautiful. So provoking. Like he was above her world. Like he was above anyone's world, really. She always did fall in and out of love like bipolar weather; it was one of her many flaws. And to think she had only spent but a few minutes with him.

Honmei suddenly barged in the staff room, still lively like fireworks on the Fourth of July. Was she on crack or something?

"Hey, new employee!" she said, grabbing the seat next to her and sitting down with a long contented sigh. "Good work today! It's rare to see someone work so hard on a Saturday. So when are you moving in?"

Ayaka flashed her a long look of confusion. What?

"Thanks, but... HUH?"

"OHH!" Honmei cried, like she had just stubbed her little toe. "I haven't told you, have I? All employees are required to live here! As a business, we emphasize top quality customer service to our patrons, 24/7! You won't be on-call all the time, and it isn't really free, but I think people are happy here. So how about it?"

There it was again, Honmei's bullet-speed mouth. She was talking so much and so fast that it was becoming a tiring chore just listening to her. Was she really required to live in the Heavens Arena? Was that really something people just _forgot_ to mention when hiring new employees? This human resources manager really was a piece of work.

As if sensing her skepticism, Honmei patted her back to reassure her further.

"Electricity and utilities are included," she said thoughtfully, like a car salesman trying to make his first sale. "But the rent depends. If you want your own room, it's five thousand a month. If you share with someone, it's half that. But you get three free meals a day in the cafeteria, so I personally think it's a good deal!"

Ayaka's eyes went bloodshot at the mention of free food. Free food without coupons? Just...free? That was a good deal indeed! She stood up abruptly, knocking down the seat behind her, and hastily ran towards the door. Sometimes, she didn't have much pride.

"I'll let you know by tomorrow morning!" she said, opening the door and hurriedly stepping out. "I'm getting some free dinner!"

* * *

><p><em>There is no place<em>

_There is no time_

_Nowhere but here_

_No moment but now_

_Or so he said_

* * *

><p>After much deliberation, Ayaka decided to have her own room despite the higher cost, since not having enough privacy was one of her biggest pet peeves. Besides, she snored and slept with her mouth open sometimes, and who really wanted to live with someone like that?<p>

But that wasn't important right now. It was day two of working, and Ayaka had been drooling all night just dreaming of the fat paycheck she was going to get. She worked eight hours straight yesterday, and today, she was planning to work for twelve. That would be twenty grand in two days! She was going to treat herself to a manicure _and_ a pedicure this time. Oh, she was going to splurge. The next time she saw Hisoka, she'd flaunt herself... or not. No way she could do that.

"Maybe I should buy toys for the kids," she changed her own subject, thinking about the snotty children she had been babysitting until yesterday. "They'll be so happy!"

She snickered to herself and a few people looked her way. She had to stop talking to herself.

She was almost done restocking the kitchen inventory, and only a sack of rice was left. It was big and heavy and it smelled like an old warehouse. She tightened her grip on both sides of the package and threw it over her shoulders, making it land roughly on her back. Her knees curled underneath the pressure. How could tiny grains of rice be this heavy? But children were pretty heavy too, and she had given her fair share of piggyback rides over the years. This was nothing.

"For the twenty grand!" she yelled, running full speed from the delivery truck towards the kitchen. Well, at least that was where she was headed, until she bumped into somebody's rock solid torso when she turned a corner. She ricocheted backwards and fell to the floor, with her well-padded behind catching her fall. The sack of rice landed next to her, and she thanked the heavens that it didn't rip open. She didn't want to pay for damages, much less on her second day.

"I'm sorry... Hisoka-san?"

There he was, smiling like he usually did, in all his vibrant glory. His orange hair was spiked upwards, and she realized later that this was how he usually kept it. She had done some research, a little bit of asking around, and she learned that he was what they called a "floor master." He could kill her with his eyes closed. In a split second. Upside down. While having a drink of water or something.

She immediately stood up and straightened herself out like a dutiful soldier. Her heart was beating fast, like it was in the middle of running a marathon, and she wondered if it was due to her non-lackluster efforts to race her way through the building, or if it was because Hisoka was just as breathtakingly handsome with clothes on. Did he remember her?

But she was staring again. She scrambled to the side and tried to grab the heavy sack, but her arms failed her. Really, why now of all times? She was just too nervous. Good-looking men always had that effect on her, and Hisoka was probably the best-looking of all. Why was he just standing there? And moreover, why was he looking so pleased with himself, watching on as she struggled with the package of carbohydrates?

"Twenty grand, twenty grand," she whispered to herself, trying to access the motivation she had only a few moments ago. She needed to leave soon, because she probably just looked stupid.

And there it was again. A moment of suffocation. Of being squeezed in the neck with a phantom hand. A hand that wouldn't let go unless she died just quick enough to forget the torture. But this time, it wasn't just a moment. It didn't pass. It was here to stay.

"How rude of you to bump into me like that."

She buckled down with her hands and knees flat on the ground, like the sack of rice had fallen on her instead. She could feel the blood pumping in panic through her veins, going different directions, like a busy, congested highway. Hisoka waved his hand in the air, like he was bidding her a farewell, and a single card, the Joker, appeared between his fingers.

"Bye-bye."

Like chopping wood with a blunt axe, he brought his hand downwards as if to strike her, but she neither winced nor whimpered. Eyes wide, she watched in awe, in slow motion, as the magician cast a spell. A spell of death. A spell she would never be able to break. But as if overtaken by a sudden punch of hesitation, he averted his hand at the last millisecond, and the Joker, the card, the trickster, embedded itself on the sack of rice instead.

Little grains of rice poured out like children set free for summer vacation, creating a melody of white noise that filled her ears with a hypnotic tune. What just happened? Hisoka then glanced behind him, as if pleasantly annoyed at somebody's intrusion. Was somebody there?

But he just sent her another smile and walked past her.

"Oops."

And Ayaka didn't know what possessed her, what washed over her brain, when she twisted her head around to get one final glance at him before he disappeared.

"My name's Ayaka, by the way!"

Really! What the hell was she thinking? Was she that desperate to get attention? Was she _that_ lonely? How pathetic. She just wanted to dig a hole on the ground, jump into it, and bury herself alive.

But Hisoka didn't stop walking. He didn't even turn around. Not that she thought he would. Not that she even wanted him to. But she knew that he was smiling, because he always was. And... he responded.

"Why do I need to know who you are?"

Well, wow, she was about to ask herself the same thing. And just like that, all trace of him disappeared. It was a dream. It was a nightmare. It was lucid but surreal.

She took a good long look at the little avalanche of rice. The card was still half-buried, like a tombstone in the healthy soil of a graveyard. Her graveyard. She picked it up cautiously, careful not to cut herself... but it wasn't sharp. Not at all, actually. It was just a normal piece of cardboard that she could bend sideways if she wanted to. Was he playing a cruel joke on her? Did he see her earnest face as a target to be ruined of all its innocence? He wasn't going to win; there was no innocence to stain.

And yet, she somehow felt a strong surge of delight from having seen his face again, and from being given the least bit of attention. She couldn't understand it. Men rarely looked her way, especially the handsome ones, and even if they did, they never approached, probably because she smelled of children's poo. Otherwise, they always wanted something else.

She didn't know how much time had passed until an open hand appeared in her field of vision. A gentle hand, with a strong, protective palm.

"Can you stand?"

She glanced upwards at the Good Samaritan, who greeted her with a gentle bespectacled face, unkempt black hair and solid brown eyes. He was wearing a long-sleeved white shirt, half tucked and half un-tucked in a pair of black baggy trousers. A careless man.

"Yeah, thanks," Ayaka finally replied, ignoring his hand and standing on her own.

"Be more careful next time," he said, grabbing the sack of rice like it was full of dandelions, the wrong side up so that no rice would spill from the clean cut. "Hisoka was about to kill you."

To this, she raised her brows well over her forehead. What did he mean by that? Hisoka wasn't about to kill her. He was just... doing what, exactly? Nobody was making sense today, not even her. All she knew was that she was happy. Happy that Hisoka had noticed her.

"You don't have to take that, sir," she said, attempting to remain polite while gathering her senses once more. "That's my job."

She tried grabbing the sack from him, but he started walking away. Why did people enjoy walking away from her?

"This goes in the kitchen, right?" he asked kindly. "Don't worry about it. The way you are now, you probably can't even carry a feather."

And her legs did feel weak, like jelly, unable to support anything else but its own weight, without which it would only collapse onto itself. If not for the Good Samaritan, would she really have died?

"Uhh... your name?"

"Oh, right. I'm Wing. And you're Ayaka, right?"

She blushed, and her hot ears distracted her from telling him that he was right. How embarrassing. How loudly did she shout her name exactly? Did everyone hear? And... would Hisoka remember it?

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><p>End of Chapter Two!<p>

Well, what did you think? Could you imagine Hisoka's murderous intent the way Ayaka felt it? I sure hope so, because I tried really hard. So let me know by leaving a review! I tried not to make it too long, which was really a big challenge, but I think it went okay. I'm still trying to figure out Chapter 3, but since Thanksgiving will give me lots of time to write, I'll have it figured out soon!

Again, thanks for reading, and please review!


	3. Illness

Hello, everyone! An update for you! I hope your Thanksgiving went well! Mine was awesome; I probably gained two pounds from eating too much cheesecake, but life is short (made even shorter by eating too much cheesecake).

Anyway, you must know that I won't be able to update in like a week or so, because I have finals in a few days. I'm actually supposed to be studying right now, but I couldn't stop myself. I drank two large cups of coffee (and I never drink coffee) too late in the day with the intention of studying, but I just wrote this instead, and it's already 5:17 AM. My roommate is still awake, because she has a paper due in four hours, and she just started working on it. Oh joy.

Okay, I'll shut up now. Here we go!

* * *

><p><strong>Spotlight<strong>

**Chapter Three: Illness**

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><p>Ayaka didn't really know how to explain what was going on with her body. Sure, she could walk, talk, and even work fine, but there was a strong and unshakable feeling of dread, of paranoia, that she just couldn't, well, shake off. For the past two weeks, everything within her body conflicted with everything else, like her organs had short-circuited in different places, all at the same time.<p>

She would often feel hungry right after eating a large meal. Her head would feel like one giant ice pack while the rest of her body, down to the points of her toes, would feel like a red-hot bed of charcoal. And then the temperatures would switch in a snap, just like that, like her body's biological thermometer was turned upside down. She would find black coffee sweet, and bananas, salty.

Not to mention feeling exhausted after eight full hours of rest. It didn't help that even after two weeks of having moved into the Heavens Arena, most of her belongings were still in two large sealed boxes in the corner of her room. And it was a lovely room, mind you, completely furnished with a single-sized bed, a dresser and a study desk, all made of beautifully crafted solid dark oak, all strategically positioned by a meticulous interior designer who laid down his Feng Shui law. And yet, to her, it was absolutely ugly. The pastel-pink-and-yellow-striped wallpaper, though a combination of her favorite colors, just did not appeal to her.

A single oak-framed window, directly across from the door and behind her bed, boasted a breathtaking view of York Shin - shiny buildings, small houses, and busy highways, the works of a mega-metropolitan city. It didn't look as polluted from way up high on the 99th floor, but either way, she couldn't slide the window open since it was nailed shut (apparently, many had died from falling or jumping out), and she was all right with that, because who really wanted to breathe in toxic gases from the cars below? But somehow, just not having the option to open it added to her distress.

So... what was wrong with her? Was she having a mid-life crisis at the age of nineteen?

The worst part was probably the throbbing pain she felt on her left arm. It felt incredibly sore and beaten up, like it had gone through the meat tenderizing process in a steakhouse, and the warm compress she applied every night just wouldn't soothe the ache. Maybe she tore something without knowing it? She'd been lifting heavy things, after all.

She sighed loudly as she squeezed her way through the crowd in the lobby, making her way towards the food stand where she was supposed to work for the day. It was a busy time for the Arena, 1 o'clock, but it was good because working with customers forced her to think of their little petty problems instead of her own.

"Ayaka?" Wing suddenly called from behind her.

Great. This guy again. She hasn't seen him since that incident, all those days ago. You know, that time Hisoka was "about to kill" her, according to him at least, though she hasn't seen Hisoka himself either. After all, Heavens Arena had 251 floors and it wasn't like she could man the room service department by herself and steal other people's jobs. She wasn't a lunatic like some people obviously were.

"Yes?" she replied as she turned around, feigning an employee's smile. "Ahh, Wing-san. How are you?"

He smiled that gentle smile of his, like he couldn't harm a fly, or a mosquito, or anything smaller and slower than those two. Honestly, despite thinking he was a bit on the loony side, she found it difficult not to like him. Then again, it was difficult not to _dis_like him either. It was pins-and-needles with this guy.

"You don't have to be so polite," he said like he knew her, putting his hands behind him like the teacher she heard he was.

To that, Ayaka bit her tongue. They weren't friends, so why was he acting like they were?

"Courtesy is company policy!" she rhymed in a perky Honmei-styled voice, dropping her smile as she walked towards the food stand again, ignoring the chilly feeling her head was emitting. "Thank you again for, you know, helping me with the rice situation."

"You're very welcome."

And then he followed closely behind her. For a moment, she considered that maybe he was just a really lonely man, looking for something to do, someone to talk to, someone to bother. Like the needy, clingy children she used to babysit. But he was just a little bit too eccentric for her taste, what with his shirt _still_ half tucked in. Really? She eyed the messy garment and developed the urge to tuck the rest herself, but that was a bit... yeah.

"You still have Hisoka's weapon, don't you?" he suddenly asked.

And she froze mid-step, which was actually happening a whole lot lately. Hisoka's weapon? He must have meant Hisoka's Joker card, the one that had assaulted the sack of rice. Wait. How did he even know that she still had it? That she had kept it at all? She unknowingly set a defensive hand over her left pink sleeve, where she had gingerly tucked it in that morning. Oh great, now he knew where it was.

She could feel its dull cardboard edges pressing against her warm skin, and her arm ached a level further, like an iron slowly changing its heat setting. Sure, it was creepy of her to bring the card everywhere, like a stolen keepsake of some stalker, but hey, no one was supposed to know!

"Uhh...Yes?" she blurted out a second too late like an embarrassed dog, not knowing what else to say. "Listen, I'm thankful for your help the other day, but this...it's none of your-"

"You've been feeling a bit sick, haven't you? You don't look too good."

Her eyes twitched wider ever so slightly, and her mouth hung open, drying out her loose pink tongue. This guy... How did he know? Was it that obvious? Well, the bags underneath her eyes were beginning to puff up like drenched teabags, so maybe that was a tell-tale sign? But he looked a bit too serious and somehow menacing to her now that she gave him a second look. And looking at him made her drumming heart knock loudly enough for her own ears to hear.

"How... did you know?"

"It doesn't matter how I know," he replied, and she felt a hard vein pop up, right smack in the middle of her forehead like the debut of a fresh pimple. "What's important is that it's been two weeks and you still haven't recovered from Hisoka's killing intent. You aren't letting it go, and it's causing the confusion your body is feeling. It's going to get worse if you don't stop it now."

Huh. Killing intent. There he was again about that. But he was oh-so-accurate about the confusion part, so much so that she silently worried about what else he might possibly know. Little beads of sweat collected at the base of her neck. Now, her head was feeling a bit too warm. It felt cold just a few seconds ago.

"And you think I'll feel better if I get rid of the card?" she asked despite the distraction, gripping her sleeve tighter, protecting the only link she had with Hisoka. She flinched as she touched it again. Her arm was burning with greater pain, a pain she couldn't fully explain. It just hurt. It just felt scorching. And it was getting hotter. Still...No way. No way would she throw it out! She was even planning to return it to him! She just never got the chance.

"Of course you'll feel better," he replied, like he knew everything, and she wondered if he was this naturally condescending towards everyone. "That card is the medium through which his killing intent was delivered. It's a difficult thing to understand, and it's not something I can just explain to someone who isn't qualified, so if you just follow-"

"_Sir,_" she said in between clenched teeth. "With all due respect, I have to get back to work. It's been nice talking to you."

And she walked away. Lunatic. He wasn't even her employer, so who was he to boss her around like that? But hey, it wasn't over. Not at all.

Wing grabbed her arm and raised it high in the air, and she panicked as a few customers looked at her. No! Wow, she was really going to get fired this time!

"Listen to me, Ayaka," he said softly, but there was a hint of frustration in there somewhere. "Your stubborn interest in Hisoka is deadly. If you aren't careful, he _will_ kill you. Do you understand? He might even do it with the very card you want to return, and trust me when I say that I won't defend you, because I'm not sure I can. Are you all right with that? Of course, your choices are your own, but my values prevent me from simply watching you kill yourself."

Ayaka grabbed her arm back... and... wait. The pain! It was gone! She lifted her arm, up and down, up and down. Swing! No pain. She could finally breathe freely for the first time in weeks! What kind of magic therapist's hands did Wing have? And... hold on. Everything else was gone too! She felt great! Her head didn't feel like summer in the north pole anymore, her hands were dry, and suddenly, she decided that the wallpaper in her room was really pretty after all. But the card... she couldn't feel it in her sleeve. It was empty, because Wing had stolen it.

"Give it back," she snapped, wondering how he was able to take it in such a short time, right under her nose.

"No," he said, turning around to walk away. "Let this be the end of it."

Who was he to decide things? She gritted her teeth and grabbed the back of his shirt, pulling him towards her with a strong jerk, but he wasn't intimidated by it at all. Not one bit. He even sighed aloud, like _she_ was the one bothering _him_. Like _she_ was the one wasting _his_ time.

"Ayaka," he said in his low, manly voice, soothingly, almost of a lullaby quality. Really, what was it with teachers and their calming voices? Not that she really knew what teachers sounded like, since she didn't even reach high school. But that was something she didn't like to think about.

And so she let him go. Not because she believed him. And not because the pain in her arm was magically gone. It was because the tiny hairs at the back of her neck stood up, taken over by chilly goosebumps.

Hisoka was there. And he had his hand wrapped around a little boy's neck.

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><p>End of Chapter Three!<p>

How was that? I hope you enjoyed it! Please leave a review; I really wanna know what you think.


	4. Nodes

Hello, everyone! So finally, an update! I have little time to write since I'm so busy pretending to study for this test I need to take in January. BUT ANYWAY. I hope you like the next installment of Spotlight! I worked hard on it, so tell me what you think!

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><p><strong>Spotlight<strong>

**Chapter Four: Nodes**

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><p><em>The supernatural may or may not exist. But so what? All you need to do is close your eyes, believe with your body and soul, and with three lonely clicks of your heels, you'll awaken to a new world where everything you wish for has come true.<em>

_But sometimes, this doesn't work. Sometimes, despite wishing that you aren't already dead, whether you close your eyes or leave them open, the grim reaper will still be standing there._

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><p>That's pretty much what Ayaka felt as she stood there, her sore feet glued helplessly to the carpeted floor, the tiny fibers holding on to her like hands from hell. Death was too close, she could reach out and grasp its tongue, kiss its cold lips. Surely Hisoka, even in all his monstrous glory, wouldn't kill a child? But he was a wild card, wilder than most, and she knew very well that she needed to stay away. It was rather simple, no rocket science. Just turn around and walk away. But even so…for goodness sake, that boy was too small! No smaller than the children she had been watching over this past year!<p>

"Damn it!" she muttered.

Why wasn't Wing doing anything? Wasn't he the one running his mouth about saving people from Hisoka's brutality just now? She looked around, the urge to scream building in her throat and itching her voice box to act. Why haven't people noticed them yet? Or were they just pretending?

The little brown-haired boy, eyes shut from the panic clogging his system, could only let out a tiny little cough as his pocket-sized lungs desperately tried to vacuum in air. His face was turning a ghastly shade of blue, and Ayaka knew... she just knew... He was going to die if _she _didn't do something about it. She couldn't let a child die. She couldn't. To hell with Wing, watching casually like that, like he was too good to get involved. To hell with the indifferent people around her, acting like they couldn't be bothered by what was going on! To hell with them all!

Her legs. They had begun to move. A slow pace at first, one small step after another, gradually getting faster and faster, a horse released into the wild!

'_It __will __change __your __life,__'_ the ad said, right?

Well, do or do not. There is no try!

"Let him go!" she yelled, her own roar vibrating in her own ears as she ran, leaving Wing dumbfounded, though he didn't show it. Her voice was pretty damn thunderous; she didn't know she could get _that_ loud. It pulled everybody's attention, forcing them to look only at her for the first time, if only for a few moments. But a few moments was really all she needed.

"HISOKA-SAN!"

Wow, still pretty polite. She was a hopeless case.

Oh, but of course Hisoka didn't listen. Why would he? In front of all those people, he was happily strangling a child like it was a typical gesture of love. His smile grew tighter as he heard her, the skin on his lips stretching and bleeding open, and Ayaka couldn't help but believe that he was trying his darn hardest to contain the twisted joy he had so desperately caged inside himself. He was about to explode, and she was going to end up with poisonous shrapnel in her eyes.

But… he was hurting a child. A child. Who in their right mind would want to hurt a child?

And so she jumped for his arm, up high in the air like she was reaching for the branch of a tree, grabbing it with a loud slap of skin against skin. With her overworked hands, she latched onto him like she would die if she let go, and she hoisted herself upwards, digging and clawing her red nails into his beautiful silky skin. He didn't even budge! Not one inch, not even after the abrupt addition of a hundred and twenty pounds. But Hisoka... he was surprisingly warm to the touch, a feeling so electric that it gave her a flutter of nauseating vertigo.

"I think something just landed on me," he said, looking around for a flying insect.

That pissed her off. He made her so angry! She never thought for one second that she was fresh from a Victoria's Secret catalog, but geez! He didn't have to rub it in like this, like he couldn't even see her! And yet primal as she felt, shocked as she was by the high-society man, she managed to open her small mouth with a low growl, little strings of body-temperature saliva still clinging from top to bottom of her sharp teeth. She lifted her head to gain momentum. She had to save the boy. She just had to! So what if it was Hisoka she was up against?

_'__Why __do __I __need __to __know __who __you __are?__' _he had asked her two weeks ago. She didn't mind being ignored, really. She's been so used to being part of the bigger picture… but today, he was going to get an answer.

She sunk her teeth into the smooth tissues of his arm with cruel, brutal force, with hard and unforgiving calcium-rich incisors, tearing the flesh off of his compact muscular limb like a starving carnivore and... _SPLAT! _His blood spurted out with explosive force into her mouth, red droplets staining her already-flushed face. His arm was more tender than she had thought - so he was human after all! Blood generously burst from wound with a stomach-twisting squishing noise... like she had just bitten down on pasta al dente instead.

"The name's Ayaka. A-YA-KA," she spoke, her voice muffled and quite literally dripping with her own venom. She felt so fierce. So powerful. And yet somehow she felt like she had cheated, like Hisoka had _let_ her bite him. Why?

The taste of sweet rust jolted the senses of her moist tongue, the strong metallic odor arousing the insides of her mouth. Meat as raw as this... didn't humans of many centuries ago feed on it? Her body shuddered, recognizing the taste of uncooked flesh, the odor of a fresh catch, and she salivated like a hungry hound successful on its brutal hunt. Oh god. What had she done in front of a child?

And she heard him. With his blue face slowly turning apple green like a threatened chameleon, the little boy whimpered the only breath of air he had left as he watched her in honest horror with his big brown eyes - beautiful innocence, the type that still burned with the zeal of childhood.

"Ooh. Do I taste good?" Hisoka cooed as he chuckled with a sinister toothy smile.

Her eyes widened at his unhidden happiness. This man was crazy! She really couldn't deny it this time, and she wondered whether Wing was watching, and whether he wanted to say, "I told you so."

"You taste like…copper."

Hisoka's face, a small-pored blemish-free canvass, twisted upwards in a curled smile, and for a moment she believed that maybe, just maybe, he knew firsthand what his own flesh tasted like.

"Wow, look at your face! You look like you want to die," he continued.

He was so close that she could smell him. He smelled pretty wild, at least that's what she thought. A strong sweet fragrance of earthy clay and honey-dipped blood, and maybe a hint of…spice? She could feel her nostrils flare, greedily breathing in more of his lustful scent as her gaze slowly trailed down to his lips... a soft pink. She... she wanted to kiss him. But he saw the nature of her gaze, and she shivered at the thought of having been caught. Her cheeks burnt an even brighter, harsher shade of red, igniting her stiff neck to follow suit. She was on fire because of him, and he knew it.

But this murky swamp of attraction towards this killer, the carnal desire was much too volatile. She couldn't bear it.

And that's when it all started.

She felt a solid block smash into her stomach, knocking the wind from her hyperventilating lungs, followed by a silent swoosh as she was thrown upwards in the humid air. She could feel her insides roughly squish themselves together like an air-tight container to cope with gravity, and she closed her eyes and waited for the pain. But boy was she lucky, because Wing caught her before she collided with the wall, or the ceiling, or whatever she was about to hit. It took her a moment to realize that Hisoka had just… _swatted _her away. There was a throbbing cramp beneath her chest where he had hit her, and she wondered if she had broken something. It hurt. Damn, it was like a thousand paper cuts in the insides of her right lung.

"Very odd," Hisoka said as he looked up in the air as if looking for something, his face still contorted in extreme bliss. "Mosquitoes nowadays are getting quite resilient, aren't they?"

Ayaka gritted her teeth. Hisoka's blood was already caking on her cheeks and chin from having bitten him, and she was sure, so sure, that he actually wanted her to attack him.

"Are you all right?" Wing asked as he helped her stand on her shaky knees. "Ayaka?"

Why did he look at her like she had sprouted ten heads? He looked absolutely perplexed.

"Thanks," she spat, unintentionally sounding pretty wicked as she wiped Hisoka's blood off of her lips, suddenly feeling a tightening in her ribcage. "But I'm okay! I actually… wanna do it again!"

Maybe Hisoka was right. Maybe she really did want to die.

She sprinted towards him, her tight fist poised by her head to deliver a strong blow. She wanted to hit him back. She just wanted to. Why was she having so much fun? But Hisoka suddenly dropped the child as he looked at her with peaked interest, stretching his arms out towards her as if saying, "Come!" Oh, she wasn't going to stop. She had to punch him. Anywhere would be okay. As long as she hit him. Clowns had two faces, right? She wanted to see him cry!

But her fist struck air.

"Wow," Hisoka spoke, appearing behind her instead. "Interesting nen you got there. I'm glad I gave you a dose."

And her heart stopped. For three full seconds, to be exact. And she wondered if she had died without knowing it.

Wing stood in front of her, and he was absolutely frightening. Sharp angled brows, incensed from provocation, and snake-like eyes, ready to strike! He was about to kill someone... about to kill _her_. Again and again, as if once wasn't enough.

"Calm yourself down, Ayaka!" he said, reaching out. "Hisoka just opened your nodes and-"

"What? What are you talking about? I'm calm! …Am I?"

Two big invisible walls smashed into her, knocking the wind from her lungs and cracking her bones with a sickening crunchy noise that made her feel an obnoxious twisting in her gut. Waves of sauna-like heat pushed her from either side, slapping her like a fish on dry land, and she could feel droplets of sweat trickling down her face, her back, everywhere! She felt a strong burn from her stomach, pulsating like a geyser exploding prematurely, gurgling, gurgling, rising higher towards her lungs, gurgling, forcing its way through her heart and reaching her throat... and bursting out her mouth. It was vomit! She was barfing! She howled deep painful sounds as yellowish brown goo splattered out, burning like boiling water forcing itself up and down her throat, brushing against the creases of her teeth and onto the floor.

"Ayaka!" she heard Wing yell. "You must focus your energy to—!"

But she couldn't see him. Or hear him. Her body tuned him out. And only then did Hisoka move, taking a casual step back when she crouched down to the ground and clutched desperately onto her stomach as the uncontrollable irregular purging continued. Splashing, gagging, disgusting letters of the alphabet put together.

_UUHHHKKKKKKPPPPPHHHFFFFF!_

She raised her head and gasped for more air.

_KKKKRRRPPPPUUHHHFFGGGGG!_

The floor drowned in it, like the drowning of plants from an overbearing water source, the lapping of liquid by chunky, hungry soil. But the carpet absorbed nothing. Air. She needed air! Why wouldn't her body listen? But Hisoka. He watched her. He just... watched her. Eyes steadily set in her direction. The beautiful monster was watching her suffer. And he was fascinated, wasn't he? She felt so much shame. Was Wing still talking?

Her body was suddenly engulfed in yellow flames, she could see it, from her fingers all the way down to her toes, but it didn't hurt. She felt warm and she felt tired. Slowly, slowly, she was drifting to sleep.

"Don't fall asleep, Ayaka!" Wing shouted, though he sounded distant, like he was on the other end of a long tunnel. And she would have run for her life, she would have never come back, she would have never thought twice of seeing anyone again had she not heard the little boy's desperate gasps of air, one big breath after another, like he was reborn. He was safe. He was safe. She had done good. She wiped her dirty mouth with her pink sleeve and gave him a desperate smile. She was probably just seeing things.

"You okay, little guy?"

She couldn't bear to look at anyone else but him. His eyes were filled to the brim with tears. Tears from choking, from seeing so much blood, from watching a woman he didn't even know so nastily puke her guts out. The little innocent boy could see the half-digested piece of soggy waffle she had eaten for breakfast.

The acidic smell made her own eyes tear up, and her nose burned like she had sneezed it all out instead. She could hear the repulsed whispering of the people around her as silent judgment was passed. They had formed a big circle around the scene, hands covering their mouths and noses, and she was in the middle of it all. She was her own enemy. Nobody else.

Her shame was cut short when Wing took hold of her shirt and tossed her onto his shoulder, her stomach roughly pressing against the bony edge. He was in a hurry. She winced from a little surge of pain in her ribs, and she was sure she had broken something after all. Wing took hold of the little boy's hand, and he obliged like a good son.

"Hisoka, I told you that Zushi isn't quite ready for you yet."

He chuckled like it was meant to be a joke.

"I was only encouraging him," Hisoka teased in reply. "When do you think he'll reach my floor?"

"Let him mature on his own. As for Ayaka, why did you-"

"Who?" Hisoka interjected, and Ayaka's bloodshot eyes grew even wider, painfully ripping away at the seams of her eyelids. "Oh, I didn't know mosquitoes had names."

"Why did you open her-"

"Oh, no reason. The mosquito looked like she wanted to kill me, so I thought, why not make it more fun? She was no good the way she was."

Wing sighed in defeat as he turned around to walk away, forcing Ayaka to face the man who had just called her a blood-sucking insect. But Hisoka... he was just looking at the noxious mess she had made instead. Being ignored like that, despite the scene she starred in, it just somehow... stung.

She was going to get fired, and she was going to switch "careers" again. Just like always, she messed up. When was her life ever going to change?

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><p>End of Chapter Four!<p>

Well? How was it? This took me soooo long to write, since I didn't know whether to give Ayaka a special past or not, and whether to insert it or not. UGH it was so difficult to write... And with my mom breathing down my neck to study for my test... it wasn't pretty! But here it is, and I like it!

Please review! Did you know I live for reviews? Yes... yes, I do. Thanks for reading, and have a wonderful holiday!


	5. Ayaka Has A Brother

Hello, everyone! I am back! Woot. Wow, it has been a while. How was break? You did get a break, didn't you? Anyway, I dearly like this chapter, though it is rather long. I just couldn't take away a lot of what was in here, so I hope you guys will like it! I wrote it all in one sitting because I am horribly jet-lagged. My sleeping pattern is so horribly skewed that I fear I might sleep in class later on in the day.

Anyway, thanks for sticking with me, and do read on!

Disclaimer: I do not own Hunter X Hunter. I wish I did. I really, really wish I did. But I am no genius like Togashi. Here we go!

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><p><strong>Spotlight<strong>

**Chapter Five: Ayaka Has A Brother**

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><p>"Zushi, I'm back," Wing called as he entered the small room they shared. "How's Ayaka doing?"<p>

The small boy, dressed in his usual martial arts ensemble, looked up at him from where he was seated on the carpeted ground. He was clearly surprised, and Wing immediately knew that Ayaka wasn't around.

"She told me she was going to go see you, sensei," he said, his voice weighing heavily as they left his mouth. "Didn't she?"

Wing set his large hand – large to Zushi, anyway – on his student's head, sighing slowly as he closed his eyes.

"No, she didn't," he replied, heading towards the door again. "Let's go look for her before she hurts herself."

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><p>More than anything, Ayaka's feet were hurting. They were sore, battered, and she knew she wasn't imagining things because her usually pasty size-six feet were painted a bluish purple. Either nen had done that to her, or she had done it to herself. After all, she had just walked over six miles barefoot. Wing had mercilessly taken her shoes, as well as her room key, when he left her with Zushi. Right. Like being barefoot was going to stop her from leaving.<p>

She would've stayed. Really, she would've. After all, this nen business Wing was talking about seemed absolutely interesting and worth her unpaid time. But not right now. She had things to do. People to visit.

She stood in front of a small five-story white building. There were no signs, no name written to mark the building apart from the rest. All its windows were wide and clear, but ugly beige blinds covered most of them so that neighboring skyscrapers couldn't peek through them. In front of it was a huge parking lot, but few cars were actually in it, and there was a beautiful blooming garden just to the side, but it was just as empty. Well, nothing new there.

She trudged through the automatic doors and two different metal detectors, and then raised her hands above her head for the mandatory body search. She did it so mechanically, but that was because she was so used to it. After all, she's been here at least a thousand times before, visiting the sick.

The lobby was quiet just like it usually was, with nurses whispering secrets to each other like old maids. She hated the whispering, but she was too distracted today because the cold white marble flooring hurt her bare feet. Someone was laughing at her from a few feet away – a loud, unhesitating laugh one could only make when one didn't care about anything else in the world. When she reached the third floor, she quickened her pace as some of the more familiar staff greeted her, and she finally stopped in front of a pale blue door. "Room 333 – Ryuu Benneteau" the label read. She sighed and knocked three times.

"Come in," a deep muffled voice came in reply. She slid the door open and threw herself inside the dark room.

"Hey, Ryuu!"

"Hey, yourself."

Ryuu was her younger brother, and he was sitting up against the bed today. Usually he was lying down. Whenever something was different in a place like this, it was never a good sign.

He was turning sixteen in a few months, though he's spent much of his life inside this very room that years didn't matter much to him anymore. They didn't really look much alike. His hair was a brighter shade of blonde, almost white, and his eyes were a brighter shade of sky blue. For a fifteen-year-old, he was tall – almost 6'2" – but people barely noticed because he was always in bed. His skin was a sickly, translucent white, she could practically see the blood through the greenish blue veins that snaked up his slender arms.

"You're looking a bit pale today," she said as she cleared her throat, pulling up the blinds to let sunlight in. "That's better. It looks really nice outside, don't you think?"

"Dunno," Ryuu shrugged his broad shoulders, causing his gown to slide down on one side. There were deep scratch marks all over that one shoulder, the bright red swelling only highlighted by his white skin, and Ayaka forced herself to avoid overreacting.

"What happened there?" she asked softly, as though whispering a secret. Ryuu hurt himself often.

"I did it in my sleep," he said softly, and she could tell he was lying. She could always tell.

"Looks like it hurts," she said, setting a soft hand on the new wounds. "Have the nurses seen it? Might get infected, you know." With a grunt, he slapped her hand away and pulled the gown back onto his shoulders, crossing his arms over his knees. She caught sight of his bloody fingernails. "I said I did it in my sleep," he repeated, his voice deeper and more threatening this time. "If you're gonna act like mom and dad, just leave me alone."

Ayaka bit her tongue. She knew better than to act like their parents, both of whom didn't know when to stop asking questions. Ayaka's job was to act like things were normal, like nothing was wrong…like she was visiting him in a normal hospital, and not one for the suicidal. Besides, Ryuu was in a particularly bad mood today, and if she didn't watch it…

"You're right. I'm sorry. Why don't we go downstairs to the park?" she chirped, watching his face closely for any hint of forgiveness. "I have so much to tell you today. I got a new job, but I think I might've messed up big time today. I hurt one of our customers."

He chuckled ever so slightly at what she said, and it made her smile. Sometimes, she believed that maybe she switched jobs so often and on purpose just so she could tell him stories about the world outside. The world someone like him didn't belong in.

He inched his way towards the edge of the bed slowly. He was so sluggish despite his athletic build, much unlike how he was when he was ten. Oh, how beautiful those days were when they so animatedly played "house" together, from sunrise until sundown. He was the daddy and she was the mommy, and their now-deceased pet dog, Boota, was the baby. Those days had been so much fun, but they were also long gone.

"I'll go if you marry me. You didn't answer me last time."

Ayaka froze. She didn't know he'd say it so soon today. He was suddenly so serious and angry that a few hard lines formed at the base of his chin. She couldn't help but smile sadly. No matter how often it happened, she never got used to it.

She had grown up and he hadn't. It was as simple as that. In his world, he was still the daddy and she was still the mommy, and every time she visited, he insisted that they be married. She could feel the bile in her stomach rising in defiance. She so wanted to throw up again. How many times did Ryuu say this? How did all of this even start? But it didn't matter right now, because she knew it was time for her to go. Things were going to get ugly quickly if she didn't.

"I _did_ answer you, Ryuu," she said shakily, forcing another smile as she backed away slowly towards the door. "Don't you remember? We can't get married because you're my brother and I'm your-"

"You're lying again," he laughed heartily, like she was joking. "You're gonna set a bad example to Boota if you keep lying like this."

He darted towards her, faster than he was supposed to be capable of being, his big feet slapping against the cold marble floor. He grabbed hold of her arms before she could reach for the door, violently pulling her against himself and she yelped out loud. He was so big. He was even bigger when he was angry. "You said you loved me, Aya. I love you too. Why won't you just marry me!"

But the nurses came and gave him a shot of their strongest tranquilizer, and they carried his unconscious body back to his bed.

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><p><em>No thought unwritten<em>

_No story untold_

_Yet life as we know it_

_Will still fade away_

_Silently_

_Greedily_

'_Til death do us part_

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><p><em>SLAP!<em>

Wing slapped her hard. Where did the gentle, messy, half-witted teacher go? It was annoying to think that despite leaving home all those years ago, she still had a parent-like figure hovering around and scolding her when she did something bad.

"What the hell was that for?" Ayaka spat, pressing her forehead against his as if to threaten him. "You think I won't hit you back just because-"

_SLAP!_

He slapped her again.

"Okay, that's it!" she roared. "I'm in a bad mood anyway, Wing-_san_!"

She tried to punch him, but she only hit air. Really, didn't people know what modesty was around here? At least let her get one punch in! She tried again, and again, and again, until she fell to her knees when Zushi's room started spinning around in her head. She placed a cold hand on her sweaty forehead, trying to anchor her vision on a single object, but it was no use. She felt so lightheaded and weak that maybe she was on the verge of passing out. She never got tired this easily before.

"I told you to stay put," Wing said as he walked over to the bathroom with his violent hands behind his authoritative back. "You lied to Zushi about coming to see me. He trusted you, so he let you go. Those are two offenses, so you get two slaps." He was busy shuffling through the medicine cabinet in the bathroom and it annoyed her. Was he going to drug her so she would shut up? Two offenses equal two slaps her butt. She wasn't his student! Besides, she was going to quit, or get fired, or whatever anyway, so either way, she didn't need to listen to him.

She stood on her toes when the room finally stopped spinning at least a little bit, and she was headed for the door, but Zushi had fixed himself in front of her only escape – well, there was the window, but she wasn't crazy. He was visibly upset that she had lied to him, and for a moment, she regretted that she did. But the image of Ryuu appeared in her head, and all hesitation disappeared.

"Sorry, but I'm leaving, Zushi," she said, pushing him aside a lot more roughly than she had intended to. "I need to own up to my actions before Honmei finds out what I did. Actually, she's probably already waiting for me anyway."

Zushi grabbed her arm and leaned forward, tossing her over his small back and then throwing her on the couch. Ayaka squeaked like a little mouse. How could the tiny Zushi lift her with such smooth precision and ease?

"Stay put!" he said, using the words of his master, folding his skinny arms across his chest like the obedient student he was. "Can't you see your nen is leaking out? It's all over the place, Ayaka-san! Keep it up a few more hours and you'll put yourself in a coma!"

Zushi's eyes. There was something about them that she loved. Such brilliant honesty and zeal. Didn't she used to look at the world with such eyes before everything went downhill? Before her brother had started to say scary things to her? She glanced at her arms, where hand-shaped bruises were nicely floating to the surface.

"Don't underestimate Zushi just because he's a kid," Wing said as he sat next to her, cotton balls and antiseptic in hand. "Here. You can do it yourself, can't you?" He gestured towards her bloody feet, and she winced as she looked at them, finally feeling the stinging pain. She didn't know they were that bad.

"Thanks."

There was silence among them for a while as Zushi watched her apply the thick yellow ointment on the soles of her feet. She hadn't realized that the nail of her left little toe had entirely chipped off, and that's where all the blood was really coming from. Zushi had fetched a bundle of bandages from the first aid kit, and Wing smiled in approval. What a beautiful team they made.

"So," Wing said as he watched her wrap the soft white material around her two feet. "As a teacher of Shingen-Ryu, it is my obligation to teach you how to control your-"

"No thanks."

Ayaka winced as she stepped on the ground again, feet tightly bound with bandages. She bent her leg sideways to see if any blood had gone through, but she had used the entirety of the roll anyway, so it was probably good. She glanced at Wing and extended her hand, palm facing the ceiling.

"Can I please have my shoes and keys back?" she asked, summoning her courteous mannerisms back to the front line. "I need to tell Honmei that I'm quitting, and I want to keep at least some of my dignity by going there with some shoes on."

"You better let your feet breathe for now," Wing said, getting up and ignoring her irritated hand. "As for Honmei, you can talk to her later. We have some work to do. You don't want to lapse into a coma, do you?"

Wow, how did Wing end up as a teacher if his people skills were mediocre at best? And yet she felt the nagging feeling that she should probably listen to this man, because he had been right once before. Actually, he seemed like the type of person who was right 99% of the time. Besides, Hisoka was probably still inside the building, and who knew what he would do to her after what she did to him?

"Fine," she said, slumping back down on the couch. "I'm pretty much a rouge employee now anyway."

Wing found himself smiling, smelling his own victory. He probably won 99% of the time too. "Good. Now, let's start with some meditation."

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><p><em>Silence,<em>

_So much silence._

_But even so,_

_I can hear him._

_Loud and clear,_

_As though he and I,_

_Are one._

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><p>Wing and Zushi were fast asleep, and she took this chance to slip outside. She didn't know why, but she felt somewhat healthier after meditating for fifteen hours, even with nothing to eat. She desperately needed a shower and a change of clothes, but first things first. She needed to go to Honmei's office and quit. Call her obsessive, but she hated starting something without ending it herself.<p>

Only one problem. She didn't really know where Honmei's office was. Well, she knew it was on the first floor, but the building itself was so widely rooted that there were probably hundreds of rooms on this floor alone. How the hell was she supposed to find it? She could feel the judgmental eyes of a few employees on her, some of whom she had spoken to at least once or twice before. So everyone knew, huh. Well, maybe she could ask them and save herself from further embarrassment.

"Hi," she said, walking up to two snobby-looking girls. "I'm looking for Honmei's office."

"Of course you are," one of them smiled, and for a moment, Ayaka couldn't tell if she was being sarcastic. "See that long line over there? Honmei's already holding interviews to replace you."

She glanced at the long line of people. There were maybe around ten or fifteen men, all of whom were pretty husky. Did Honmei also find out how she spilled the rice a few weeks ago? Well, it made sense to start hiring macho men to stock the kitchen inventory.

"Thanks…" she said, and the two girls giggled to each other when she walked away.

She queued up behind the men and sighed at how silly she must have looked. These men were hopefully on their way to getting a good, stable job that offered cheap housing and free food, and here she was, flushing it down the toilet. She was so stupid sometimes.

"Next!" the girl in the matching pink uniform called. "I said next!"

Ayaka shook herself back to reality. Wow, those interviews sure were going quickly. Then again, Honmei had hired her in ten short seconds after all. Maybe she was a really good judge of character. What did she see when she looked at Ayaka? "Have you been here before?" the girl asked impatiently, not looking up at her as she jotted down her information on a piece of paper. "Uhh… to Honmei's office? No." The girl nodded mechanically.

"Okay. Print your name here and here, and then your signature here. Thanks. Go through those doors and we'll call you when you're up."

Ayaka arched a brow. Was Honmei this much of a big deal after all? What if she was the boss of the boss, and not just a mere Human Resources manager? Had she screwed up big time after all? The man behind her impatiently pushed her forward, and she sighed in defeat.

"Maybe I should start babysitting again…" she said to herself as she entered Honmei's office. Only it wasn't Honmei's office. Not even close.

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><p>End of Chapter Five!<p>

How did you like it? Okay, I have to eat breakfast now. I am starving. Let me know what you think by leaving a review! I live for reviews. Have I said this before?

In any case, thanks for reading!


	6. My Brother's Wife

Hello, everyone! It's been a little over a week, and here I am, already chugging out a new chapter! I'm pretty shocked myself, but I think I really like this chapter. I'm working on improving the way I write events since I do tend to gloss over many unimportant details, so long chapters tend to be very elaborate even though very little is actually happening. Really need to work on that. Anyway, just a warning, it might get pretty disturbing somewhere in the middle, so be wary! I hope you guys enjoy it! Here we go!

Disclaimer: Hunter X Hunter belongs to someone else, no matter how much I want it to be mine. Kind of like that boy or girl who's totally out of your league. Sad truth.

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><p><strong>Spotlight<strong>

**Chapter Six: My Brother's Wife**

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><p><em>There are two types of people in this world - ones who live their lives however they want, and ones who simply can't, no matter how much they would like to.<em>

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><p>Ayaka was in a lot of trouble. At that very moment, she was dealing with two very angry men whose faces blended a smoothie of mixed hatred, and it was all thanks to her silly mistake. The man in the blue uniform to her left was a balding middle-aged referee, and the man to her right was a guy named Gustavo Brimstone, her opponent.<p>

"I didn't sign up for a _fight_," Ayaka found herself explaining with an itchy, nervous laugh, raising her voice when a crowd of people suddenly cheered for the contenders in the ring next to them. She swore the entire arena smelled distinctly of intense BO, and she desperately wanted to get out of there. "This is your signature, isn't it?" the referee argued with an exasperated sigh, impatiently flashing a piece of paper so close to her face that she almost tripped over backwards. It was the paper she had just filled in, and yes, that was her careless scribble of a signature. Oh, shit. "Yeah, but…uhh, I thought it was for something else. Nevermindthanksbye!"

She glanced around for the exit, but the referee raised his worn out clipboard and immediately blocked her path.

"It's six thousand jenny to withdraw, you know," he said flatly, giving her a taunting glare before taking out a pen from his sleeve to write something down on the paper. "Didn't you read the fine print? You can't leave the building without paying." And Ayaka, just like always, froze stiffly on the spot. She stood there for about five seconds before violently shaking her head like a child refusing to eat vegetables. No way. No way. No way were they taking her money. No way!

"NO!" she yelled, grabbing the paper from the man before he finalized her withdrawal. "Just… no. Uhh, I'm fighting! Yeah, that's right. I'm fighting."

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><p><em>A heart on the sleeve,<em>

_A tear on the pillow_

_Lies to believe,_

_A poor old widow_

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><p>Hisoka enjoyed taking some time out of his day just to watch the preliminary rounds. He was often disappointed, but he still derived a little bit of pleasure from watching the ugly army ants beat each other black and blue. There was so much fire and conviction in their eyes, so much candor and confidence in themselves that it always, without fail, turned him on.<p>

Then there were those that annoyed him - the arrogant ones who believed that gallons of steroids in their biceps would grant them the license to fight on the 200th floor. They made him itch, and it wasn't the kind of itch he bothered to scratch. They were worms, and sometimes he made them eat their own dirt, slowly and painfully until they begged him to stop. But he reserved those only when he ran out of things to do.

But today was different. Today, instead of ants and instead of worms, there was a special little mosquito - a mosquito that had already taken a little nibble out of him. Now, _that_ was the type of itch he just couldn't wait to scratch. And mosquito bites, well, the more you scratch them, the itchier they get. But he just wanted to return the favor, really. After all, it was the polite thing to do.

His rubbery smile stretched wider as he bent down and clutched his twisting, jumping stomach. He was getting much too excited.

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><p>Ayaka stood by the edge of the ring. Her knobby knees quivered frigidly against each other when she watched Gustavo Brimstone take his shirt off with an exaggerated swoop. He had an incredibly lean and well-toned physique, and she would've admired those hard muscles if they weren't about to be used to beat her up. Was this guy <em>really<em> going to take their fight seriously?

"Clean hits are one point each! Three points to win this round!" The referee had begun to explain the rules, but she could barely tell his voice apart from all the screaming and yelling going on around them. Like it mattered. She was going to lose anyway. "If you step out of the ring for any reason, you lose a point! No weapons at this level."

Ayaka's warm face suddenly lit up with a shot of adrenaline. Yes, that's it! All she needed to do was jump off the ring three times and she would lose! She sighed a long breath of relief as she and Gustavo were called over to the center of the ring. She gave him a confident grin, but he merely chuckled hotly in response as he coolly set his hands on his narrow hips, stretching his torso from side to side to warm himself up.

A bell chimed, and the referee chopped his hand through the air while exclaiming a loud "FIGHT!"

Ayaka flashed her opponent an apologetic smile before she turned and dashed for the defining border of the ring. Almost immediately she heard disgusted shrieks and passionate booing from the audience, and while she hated the disapproval, she had to remind herself that it was all just a stupid mistake to begin with. Besides, if the feds found out she was starting to get violent again, they'd have her head. But not only a few steps after she had started to sprint, she felt a firm hand grasp her long dirty blond ponytail. "Tsk, tsk. Where do you think you're going, sweetheart?" Gustavo laughed. Three blinks later, Ayaka was viciously wrenched from the ground and thrown back to the center, spinning and skidding like a flat stone on rough patched up concrete.

"UGH!" she gushed as her head painfully smashed against the solid cement a few times before she came to a full stop. A stab of electric pain shot through her spine and into each of her limbs, rushing back upwards all at once in a wave of throbbing hysteria. She could hear a high-pitched ringing in her left ear as both her eyes failed her for a few moments, her vision going pitch black before it slowly returned to her, fuzzily and unreliably. It took her two whole seconds for the ringing to stop, just in time for her to hear the fervent cries of excitement that erupted from the bleachers above. Damn those sadistic people.

"Critical hit!" the referee shouted from somewhere behind her. "One point to Brimstone! Are you all right, Benneteau?"

Ayaka scrambled to her knees, unable to stand without falling back down again. Was she all right? WAS SHE ALL RIGHT? Did he see what just happened? A jolt of throbbing pain pierced through the soles of her feet; she had forgotten that they were still injured. Losing wasn't going to be easy today.

"Are you out of your mind, _Brimstone_!" she spat at him as she placed a numb hand on the back of her pulsing head. It had already begun to swell. "Can't you see I'm letting you win?"

She heard him shuffle in front of her when she finally pushed herself to stand upright. "Ayaka, was it? Call me Gustavo," he said avidly as he cracked his knuckles. "Sorry, but I don't wanna end up in some low-level floor, so I gotta fight you seriously." Ayaka gulped. This guy was fast. Even if she did reach the edge of the ring, he was only going to pull her right back in using as much force as possible. Should she fight back after all? But she'd get into trouble if she did.

And then... she spotted Hisoka. There he was, standing behind the rest of the crowd, leaning against the gray wall with his muscular arms folded neatly and casually across his chest. He looked absolutely superior, and he wasn't even doing anything. She could feel the sudden uncomfortable twisting of her stomach as her body painfully recalled what had happened the last time she had seen him. It was telling her to run away.

"Hisoka…" she mumbled silently, and he smiled at her like he had heard her. She really had to stay away from him. Didn't she conclude that he really was a crazy, dangerous man who wasn't above hurting a child? She already had one insane person in her life, and she most definitely didn't have room for another.

"Eyes over here!" Gustavo yelled as he materialized in front of her. She let out a small yelp and took a single slippery step back, but it was too late. With a soft swoosh, Gustavo had tucked his elbow behind his torso and released the full power of his fist onto her stomach in a gut-wrenching uppercut.

All went black.

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><p><em>The bleach, it was much too dilute,<em>

_The blood, it just wouldn't come off_

_So I breathed into it, the flute_

_But out came just a rusty cough_

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><p>When she came to, she found herself back in her room, nestled underneath three or four heavy blankets. The knob of the thermostat had been turned to the highest setting and she was completely drenched with sweat, but she felt so frighteningly cold. She cleared her dusty throat as she sat up, pulling the colorful feathery blankets over her numb shoulders to warm herself up. Just then, two loud voices exploded right outside her cheap-looking door, and one of them was wailing so loudly that she could already tell who it was.<p>

The door slowly creaked open and Wing walked in, followed by an extremely tall man in a business suit and a crying woman in a white kimono. Her parents.

"I told you this would happen, Raoul!" the woman hissed quietly, baring her perfectly aligned teeth at the man. Only Wing seemed to notice that Ayaka was already awake. "We should have never signed her out of that hospital! Raoul, are you listening? How could we have been so blind? My poor baby..."

"Ayako, please," he replied softly as he cupped her small pointy chin in his big warm hands. "I'm sure they have it all wrong. Remember what the probation worker said? Our little Ayaka has been so wonderful these past few months. She couldn't have done-"

"I couldn't have done _what_?" Ayaka finally interrupted, swinging her thin legs over to the edge of the bed as she looked at them with tired eyes. Her voice sounded low and croaky. Did she have a cold?

"Honey!" her mother cried as she gathered her in an embrace. "Oh, thank god! We were so worried!" Her father promptly joined in and wrapped his plane-span wings around them both, pulling them closer towards him in a tight hug as waves of disgust pulsed through Ayaka's veins. She flashed Wing a nasty questioning look, but he merely shrugged and placed his hands behind his straight back. Well, he sure was helpful.

Ayaka set a palm on her cold sweaty forehead as she wriggled free from her parents' embrace. "What the hell are you guys doing here?" She wrapped the blankets over her back and eagerly tucked her numb feet underneath her thighs to keep them warm.

Her parents looked at each other hesitantly, and for a moment they seemed to panic silently. Wing cleared his throat and walked up to her, gingerly examining the bruise-like heavy bags underneath her blue eyes. "Gustavo Brimstone was murdered soon after your fight," he explained, pushing up on his glasses with his forefinger, a serious glint twinkling beneath the lenses. "Ayaka, you're the prime suspect because of... your history."

"What? So _you_ brought them here, Wing?" she blurted out, clenching her teeth as she bit down hard on her chattering jaw. She could feel the allergic heat rising abruptly from her neck to the the apples of her cheeks as a sore knot formed in her tight throat. She recognized the feeling immediately; why wouldn't she? It was all too familiar to her, this recurring shame.

"You guys told him my '_history_?' Is that right?" she said nastily, feeling a heavy stab at her chest as she gazed accusingly at her parents' guilty faces. She turned to Wing and scowled. "Let me guess. My parents told you that I stabbed my brother in the neck and he went crazy because of that. Right?"

Wing's face remained serious but calm, which indicated a yes. He really was a reliable man. Raoul gently reached for Ayaka's chin, but she shrugged away from his sickening attempt. "Just go, dad. You and mom need to leave, and take your pack of lies along with you, okay? When I told you last Christmas that I never wanted to see your faces again, I meant it."

"But, Aya..." her mother pleaded. "Aya, we've missed you! Please just let us fix this one thing!"

"How about Ryuu, mom? When was the last time you tried to fix _him?_" Ayaka spat as she defiantly rose to her feet, sending them a heavy glare they seemed accustomed to receiving. She dropped the blankets on the floor as she walked up to her mother, nearly pressing her sweaty face right up against hers. "Oh, that's right! You guys don't even want to see him. All you do is pay the hospital bills like some sugar mommy and daddy. How could I even forget? _I_ have to work _my_ life away in order to pay those damn actors to pretend they're you because _you_ guys don't give a damn about him anymore."

Wing's dark eyebrows arched as he listened.

"That isn't true!" her mother cried, her red lips quivering as her tears smeared the black mascara down her rosy cheeks. "We want to see him, Aya! But... but he keeps saying those scary things about you. We just can't bear to remember all those scary things!"

Ayaka grabbed her mother's kimono and roughly jerked her forward, reaching with the other hand her mother's fragrant slender neck. Wing could see Ayaka's bloodshot eyes; she wasn't herself at all. Or was this the real her? She was someone else entirely, and she was burning. All the frostiness in her veins had disappeared, replaced by red hot lava. "Scary things?" Ayaka repeated as she snickered lightly. It. Was. Just. Too. Funny. "Scary things, she says. Did you hear that, Wing? Scary things!"

Ayaka suddenly erupted with such extreme laughter that she fell to her hands and knees from the lack of oxygen. Her diaphragm rocked up and down violently as she breathed out a wave of loud shrieking giggles, choking and blinking the salty tears in her eyes away. Boy, she almost wet herself from the entertainment.

"I'll tell you what's scary, mom." Ayaka suddenly turned serious, a heavy scowl rippling on her dry, chapped lips. "Scary is when your baby brother rapes you after you help him with his math homework. Scary is when he does it again in front of his friends. Scary is when he stabs himself in the neck with a pencil and blames it on you, so you get expelled from school, you get put on probation, and you get admitted into a mental asylum where he later joins you because you're his wife and he loves you, and no one believes the real story because who would stab himself and lie about it? But you know what? The scariest is when you find out that even after all that, you can't hate him, you just can't, he's gotten so deep under your skin that he's already a part of who you are and yet you can't blame him! It isn't his fault he's sick. Right? But hey, no hard feelings, mom and dad, because the fake Raoul and Ayako are doing an Oscar-worthy show of your unconditional love. You should send them a thank you card for making you look soooo good."

Ayaka shoved her mother across the room to her father. There was a long spell of speechlessness among them as her parents watched on helplessly. Their square shoulders slumped forward and their heads bowed low in humiliating defeat and painful self-condemnation. Not that this was the first time this exact scene had played out. Ayaka had given this speech to them at least twenty times in the past, and she was going to keep doing it if she needed to, lest they forget that there was nothing they could ever do to undo what had been done.

Ayaka bent down and picked up the heavy blankets from the floor, feeling the cold splashing back once more in boggling waves. Wing turned to leave, but she held on to his sleeve to keep him from going. Raoul and Ayako left noiselessly, and they were left alone.

"I'm sorry, Ayaka," Wing said softly, cloaking her tightly with the colorful blankets. "I didn't know. I shouldn't have called them here."

Ayaka shrugged as she herself slumped over. She shuddered from the icy feeling that was slowly winning against the earlier hot spell. "You probably feel really cold. Your nen has been leaking out since you got knocked out," he murmured, placing his glowing hands over her head. "I'll give you some heat. You should meditate and close the channels one by one. Do you remember how to do that?"

"Yeah," she nodded mechanically, shutting her eyes and letting the warmth wash over her senses. "Thanks."

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><p><em>How sickeningly sweet, you bloody hatchet<em>

_Fantasies of crimson and screams of scarlet_

_Worry not, naughty love, the stage has been set_

_Win or lose, Fate the fairy has played her bet._

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><p>Ayaka did not get fired. There wasn't enough evidence to convict her for the murder of Gustavo "Abs" Brimstone and Hisoka didn't press any charges against her, so she was scot-free. Well, almost. Her probation officer had caught wind of her carnivorous attack thanks to one of Hisoka's fans who had recorded the incident and posted it online. In a matter of hours, it went viral, and now at least a quarter of the world knew who she was, what she looked like, and where she worked.<p>

"Business has never been better!" Honmei had said. Ayaka's hourly wage was to be tripled indefinitely, up until the headcount of patrons reached a desired plateau.

Either way, she was found guilty of violating her probation terms. So there she was, picking up litter on Mondays, painting over vandalism on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, collecting donations on Thursdays, and massaging old people's crusty feet on Fridays. Twenty hours a week for twenty weeks. Oh joy. At least she still had time for work.

She had been assigned to operate the main elevator when Hisoka stepped in from the first floor. She prayed silently for more people to come, but nobody else did even after holding the doors for ten full seconds. She could hear him snickering at her discomfort. "Uhh... Good evening," she hesitated, keeping her eyes on the multitude of buttons. He was definitely looking at her. She could feel his intense gaze pricking through the fabric of her uniform and burning her skin an ashen gray. "Where are you headed...sir?"

"Ooh, just my suite."

Why did he have to say every word with a smile? Ayaka punched in the numbers 2-5-1 for his exclusive suite, and she realized that she hadn't been there since her first day all those weeks ago. The shiny gold doors closed, and she immediately cast her eyes down. Hisoka's reflection was clear on the smooth surface in front of her, and he could surely see her face as well. Damn these mirror-like elevator walls! She blushed as she remembered his flawless torso, the curvature of his muscles and dewdrops of hot bath water on his taut skin. She cleared her throat and ran her fingers along the edges of the buttons, desperately trying to distract herself.

Hisoka suddenly giggled, and she couldn't help but look up at his reflection.

"Heaven or hell?" he asked, tilting his red-colored head to the side with a playful smile.

"What?" Ayaka blurted, turning around to look at him.

"Where do you think that guy will end up? You know, that guy who died. I didn't get to ask him."

Ayaka's eyes grew wide, rivaling the size of large coins. Her nen began to burst out again as her focus shattered into bite-sized pieces, little trails of energy escaping the last layer of defense provided by her skin and into the atmosphere of the small elevator. All of a sudden the idea of being in a small metallic box hanging by a string of rope over a hundred or so storeys with _Hisoka_ made her feel sick in the gut.

"It was _you_?" Ayaka placed a hand over her mouth, backing herself further against the corner of the elevator. "_You_ killed Gustavo Brimstone?"

But Hisoka merely grinned as the speakers released a soft-sounding chime. The elevator doors quietly split open, and the beautiful lemongrass aroma of his suite pleasantly invaded the small space.

"I didn't say that I did," Hisoka smiled as he casually stepped into the festive living room. "Thanks for the ride, and do tell your brother I said hello."

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><p>End of chapter five!<p>

Well? How did you like it? Any favorite lines, events, etc? I really like the name Gustavo for some reason. I mean, I would never name any of my future children that, but still. Gustavo. Too bad he's dead.

Let me know by leaving a steamy review! Or just a normal review, whichever you prefer. I need some sleep now...


	7. Prefrontal What?

Hello, everyone! Before you say anything, I'm really, really sorry for not updating in so long! A lot of things happened that made me just not want to write. Anyway, on with the story!

Edit: Something fishy's going on with the system, I think. I couldn't access my own story for a while. I deleted and re-uploaded the chapter, so I hope everything is okay now!

Disclaimer: I don't own Hunter x Hunter. A genius named Togashi created it. Seriously. He is a genius.

Here we go!

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><p><strong>Spotlight<strong>

**Chapter Seven: Prefrontal What?**

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><p>Without a second thought, without a sliver of hesitation, Ayaka stomped through the closing elevator doors and barged her way inside Hisoka's suite, eyes locked down on her target like a veteran sniper. She was about to do something stupid again, she could feel it, but this guy... this guy somehow knew about Ryuu, and she needed to know why.<p>

"What did you say? How the hell do you know my little brother?"

If overbearing mother grizzly bears could speak, Ayaka's seething voice would represent them just fine. She curled her fist into a harmless-looking ball, resisting the urge to hit him right then and there. Right. As if she could. Oh, but the anger she felt right at that moment... it was bursting from inside of her, and she could do nothing to suppress it. Really, this bipolar like-and-dislike thing she had with this guy needed to stop.

Hisoka merely turned a few degrees to glance at her sideways, and Ayaka could see that his eyes revealed nothing but passive condescension. To him, she wasn't even worth his full attention, and it pissed her off even more. What did he want with Ryuu? Hisoka wasn't the type of person to let slip a fact without having a plan in mind.

And then he smiled with that cunning mouth of his, and Ayaka's heart forgot to beat. "Well, will you look at that?" he said as though suddenly finding life through a microscope. "There goes that angry face again. You know, I just love it, the way you look at me. One second you want to kiss me, the next you want to tear my face off. You just can't make up your mind, can you?"

Ayaka frowned as she felt the embarrassment ignite her pale cheeks a bright red. How could he even say that like it was nothing? Why did he have to... _mock_ her every chance he got? She took a deep breath. It was getting really hot in there, and Hisoka's provocative smile did little to calm her down. "Hmm~? Did you think I wouldn't notice?" He reached out and brushed his smooth, warm fingers across her cheek, but Ayaka immediately slapped his hand away. It burned. His fingers were so hot, so scalding that he set her on fire. Her chest was aching, her heart was squeezing itself in its own home. What power did this man have?

"I _said,_ how do you know about Ryuu?" she snapped angrily, baring her teeth as her anger elevated to dangerous, risk-taking levels. This was Hisoka she was picking a fight with, she knew it... but... Ryuu. She needed to protect him from this mad man. That was all her crazy brain was telling her to do.

"Ahh, yes, your little brother. Your _otouto, _Ryuu." Hisoka had uttered his name with such familiarity that Ayaka's eyes grew wide with tyrannical rage. He chuckled again. "Oh my. Why are you so angry? Do you have a brother complex?" Ayaka scowled wildly as her blue eyes flickered darker. Oh, it was nen, wasn't it? The reason she was burning right now, so threateningly and obsessively, was nen. Wing did warn her about the magnifying quality it had on anything she was feeling, but that didn't matter since it only seemed to fuel Hisoka's twisted amusement even more. Her defiance against him was his entertainment.

"I see what you're doing," Hisoka continued. "You're trying to seduce me with those eyes of yours, aren't you?"

That was it! Ayaka pushed forward with her thin legs and swung her right fist towards his face, but he merely dipped backwards like he was playing an easy round of limbo. He chuckled again; he was having so much fun, and Ayaka was only feeding him more and more! Yet she wouldn't stop. She _couldn't._ She swung again, only this time, Hisoka strained his neck forward like a dog catching a stray frisbee, and that's when it happened. He caught her wrist in his hungry watering mouth. Mid-air. Mid-cry. And he bit down hard. Really, really hard. Like a hungry lion severing a young deer's head.

And all she could do was yelp like an animal.

God. The pain!

"AGH! ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND?" She screamed in hostile panic as she tried pulling away, feeling each of his pointy teeth embedding two crescent moons on the smooth skin of her wrist. And her body, well, all it could do was fight back, ordering her arm to tug away, to escape somewhere as far from the predator as possible, only the mad man wouldn't let her go, and struggling against him only caused her skin to tear from the pressure. His teeth sank into the tissues of her arm, burying themselves deeper, and she could suddenly smell it, the sweet fragrance of her own thick blood. It diffused into the room, mixing together with the sweet aroma of lemongrass. A sickening combination.

"LET GO! LET GO, HISOKA!"

She clawed his face with her left, much weaker hand, digging her nails into his flawless cheek if only to make him let go, but he wouldn't. He couldn't even feel it, this monster! He laughed against her bleeding skin as he watched her with malice-filled eyes, themselves crescent arches in shape, a bright yellow burning like the sun. She could see it. He wasn't just sinking his teeth into her like a rabid dog; he was relishing the taste of her flesh.

And there was no desire to kiss him this time. There was only fear. And tears.

"Thanks for the meal," Hisoka suddenly said as he let go of her wrist, pulling on her pink employee's shirt and wiping his bloody mouth clean against the soft material. "I'm quite disappointed. Your brother tastes a lot better than you do."

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><p>Running. She was running. <em>"Your brother tastes a lot better than you do."<em> What did Hisoka do to Ryuu? Past the entrance, past the hallway, everything was a crazy array of melted colors as she slithered past oblivious people, skipping the elevator in favor of the stairs and then bursting her way through Ryuu's pale blue door. "RYUU!" she screamed hoarsely as she panted, immediately fixing her solid gaze towards the hospital bed where he should have been nestled in. It was empty. "RYUU!" Her heart banged maddeningly against her fragile ribs as she burst into the bathroom. Empty. The closet. Empty. Did Hisoka really get to him? "Ryu-!"

"AYA?" Ryuu abruptly materialized right behind her, startling the color out of Ayaka's flushed face as she turned around to face her ghost of a brother. He was so close that they could almost touch, yet she felt absolutely no presence, no existing warmth from his towering six-foot physique. When did he get there? "Aya, what's wrong? What are you doing here so late?"

Ayaka wrapped her thin arms around his diet-controlled torso, squeezing desperately and tightly as she planted her sweaty face at the center of his broad chest. "God, Ryuu! I was so worried! Where did you go?" She blinked away a few tears of relief, tarnishing his blue hospital gown with the black paint of her smeared mascara. There was no sign of injury. Ryuu returned the hug, placing one giant hand on the small of her back and the other gently on her muddy blond head. "Sorry..." he muttered shyly, clutching her closer to him like a child reuniting with his lost teddy bear. "I went to the garden and I lost track of time. Sorry... Sorry, Aya."

Ayaka hid her grimacing face. Was he lying? But there was something wrong with him. He was being gentle... so gentle that he almost seemed like a normal person. And she would never be so careless as to forget that when people like Ryuu showed signs of being _normal_, they usually wanted to die soon. "But you never go to the garden. Why did you go today?" She could think only of Hisoka. Did he have anything to do with this? If he did... then why?

"I was bored," he said hastily, looking around as though somebody was there. What was he so wary about? "Anyway, you should go home, Aya. You shouldn't be here right now. It's late."

She gritted her teeth. Something was going on. Ryuu never turned her away like this before. She was about to object when Ryuu suddenly caught sight of her bloody arm. _Shit. Shit-shit-shit._

"What happened here?"

Ryuu grasped her by the elbow and raised her arm closer to the soft fluorescent light attached to the ceiling. She instantly felt the pain upon remembering the raw wound that Hisoka had carved just half an hour ago. Her entire arm was caking with dried blood and it had swollen to twice its original size. How could she have forgotten about it? _Shit_. If Ryuu found out that another man had hurt her... there was no telling what he'd do.

"Who did this to you?" he growled wildly, and she jumped at his sudden hostility. Who? Well, a crazy, handsome psychopath she was attracted to, that's who. "Uhh, no one. I had a bad fall. In the kitchen. Near some knives. Now let go, Ryuu." It hurt pretty damn bad. She couldn't really tell whether the pain was coming from Hisoka's cruel kiss or from Ryuu's grip. Probably both. Either way, the pain came in waves, the room was spinning, and if she didn't patch herself up soon... What if he had rabies?

"Did Hisoka do this to you?"

She froze. How in the world...?

She didn't even have time to complete her thought. Like a magical summoning ritual, Hisoka appeared by the doorway of Ryuu's room, leaning casually on his side. And Ayaka cowered. He looked... different. His trademark grin was even more sinister than she had ever seen it before, and he looked absolutely monstrous, with traces of dried blood at the corners of his lips. That was _her_ blood. She subconsciously took a step back away from him, and Ryuu didn't fail to notice the fearful tensing of her muscles. "Hisoka. _You_ did this to Aya?" he barked dangerously at the lone intruder, eyeing him like a wolf about to strike. How? How did they know each other?

Hisoka scoffed haughtily as he tapped his chin in pretend thought. "Did I do what? Ohhh, you mean _that_? Maybe, maybe not," he sang. "Either way, I have your attention now, right? Sister-complex Ryuu-chan."

Ryuu_...chan?_

"I thought I told you to stay away from her. "

"Don't look at me. I honestly tried to stay away, but she kept coming after me. I think she's in love with me or somethi-"

"JUST WAIT A FREAKING MINUTE!" Ayaka blurted out, still unable to wrench herself free from her brother's grasp. "How the hell do you two know each other?"

How did Ryuu know Hisoka? How did Hisoka know Ryuu? There was such a petrifying chill in the air, such toxic malice between these two men that all Ayaka's body wanted to do was flee from the scene. Or not. She so wanted to stab Hisoka in the face, no matter how beautiful it was.

And then Ryuu scowled deeply. There it was, his rabid side. Deep entrenched lines around his lips. Bared teeth. The frightening glint made its sparkling debut in his blue eyes, and Ayaka quivered in conditioned response. His grip grew even tighter, turning her battered arm a sick gypsum color, and she wondered if her bones would actually snap from the pressure. "How do _you_ know him, Aya?" he snarled viciously, pulling her even closer to him than she already was. The quality of his voice reminded her of... back then. "He's a dangerous man. I've always told you to stay away from people like him. Why don't you ever listen to me?"

"Ooh, so I'm dangerous? Look who's talking!" Hisoka laughed, enjoying the sudden development unraveling before him. "Kind of ironic-"

**_SLAM!_**

In a flash, no, quicker than a flash, Ryuu had tackled Hisoka out of the room and crashed him onto the barricade of the nurse's station outside, generating a large cloud of dust that filtered the faint light streaming from above. Did that... just really happen? She rushed after them, swatting away the dust with one hand and coughing into the other. Where were the nurses? Where were the other patients? When the dust finally settled, she could see them. The force of Ryuu's attack had broken the heavy duty marble and old wood of the nurse's station, and Hisoka's head was buried underneath the rubble. Ryuu was crouched on top of him, ready to make the next move. Was she hallucinating from the blood loss after all? This was Ryuu, her baby brother, attacking the prized fighter of the Arena. Attacking Hisoka! How was that possible?

"I should've killed you that day..." Ryuu spoke in between clenched teeth, his eyes bloodshot as blue veins popped onto the surface of his pale skin. "It's all your fault that I did all those things to Aya... I swear I'm going to kill you!"

Hisoka suddenly erupted in tyrannical laughter as he heard him speak. His thunderous voice echoed menacingly from underneath the rubble and across the hallway, like a true madman who had just found his place in the world. A criminally insane subject. An animal who didn't care about death, so long as it died having fun. "Kill me?" Hisoka grinned. "But Ryuu-chan, that's what I've always wanted you to do!"

Ryuu roared with rage and wrapped his large hands around Hisoka's neck, but Hisoka merely snickered and struck him in the gut with his knee. Ryuu fell backwards and buckled down, clutching his injured stomach as he coughed out a tiny amount of blood. A second later, Hisoka jumped upright and kicked him on the side of his face, sending him flying across the hall and crashing into the wall, which promptly crumbled into pieces from the assault.

"I've been looking for you for a really long time," Hisoka smiled. "When your sister suddenly appeared before me, all polite and fake, well, I knew you would be close by."

"Ryuu!" Ayaka shouted as she ran after him, but another second later, Ryuu was pulled upwards by an invisible hand, and as though he was being held by a spring, he recoiled back towards Hisoka against his will. "Did you actually forget about my Bungee Gum?" Hisoka snickered as he punched Ryuu in the face when he was an arm's length away. "My, why are you so weak? Are you _really_ that cute student I took in?"

'..._Student?'_

And like a steady game of Paddle Ball, Hisoka would reel Ryuu in, punch him in the face and send him crashing to the wall, over and over again. Punch after punch after punch. Blood everywhere! Ayaka could hear the sickening cracking sound of broken bones. Fractured ribs. The muffled grunts of pain. She had to do something!

She could see more of Ryuu's blood spilling on the ground as time went by, but what could she do? Wing hadn't taught her how to fight! Wasn't there something? Anything? Ryuu was going to die!

* * *

><p><em>No cries to be heard<em>

_No tears to be dried_

_The dead are burned_

_The living are tired_

* * *

><p>It happened too quickly. Ayaka didn't even have time to think about what had happened, or how. All she could do... was watch. And listen.<p>

As Ryuu soared through the air on his way back for another punch, he flashed Hisoka a wild smile. "Weak?" Ryuu laughed as he spoke, like he hadn't just been punched thirty times in a row. "Just who are you calling weak, _sensei_?" Just then, Hisoka's fist paused mid-attack as if seized by some unseen force, and Ryuu used the momentum of his recoil to kick against Hisoka's chest, ultimately breaking away from his Bungee Gum and landing stealthily on his feet. Hisoka slid upright across the floor from the kick, his arm still raised in the air as if still waiting to punch someone.

Hisoka glanced at his fist, which was blotched generously with Ryuu's blood, and attempted to make it twitch the slightest bit, but it wouldn't budge. With a short sigh, he pouted and tilted his head to the side. "I was trying to remember what your weapon of choice was," he said as he grinned widely, licking his lips as though tasting his very words. "It's been so long that I've forgotten it was your blood. No wonder you let me hit you so many times."

Ayaka rushed to Ryuu's side, but he was... completely fine. Aside from a crooked nose and a chipped tooth, he wasn't injured at all! Who _was_ this guy? "Ryuu?" she mumbled, unsure of what to say or do next. "You know nen?" Well, wow. Of all the questions she could have, _should_ have asked, that was all she could muster. She was never good at setting her priorities straight to begin with, but this was just... wow.

Ryuu glanced at her shortly, signs of his violent scowl fading away little by little. His messy mop of banana-blond hair covered part of his bright blue eyes, and for a moment, he didn't look anything like the fifteen-year-old boy he was supposed to be. He was a stranger. A stranger with wounded eyes blinded by murderous rage. "That's right," he replied plainly after a few moments of thought, turning his guarded attention towards Hisoka, who was walking around the hallway still attempting to make his fist move. "My nen naturally circulates with my blood, so I can use it outside of my body. I'm of the _Hoshutsukei _type."

"...w-wha...?"

"Any living thing that my blood touches, I can paralyze, but it has to touch that person's skin. The more blood on a person, the better and longer I can keep them from moving. I let Hisoka hit me a lot so I could get enough on him. Did you actually think I was losing?"

Ayaka didn't know. She had no clue that someone could do that with nen... or that nen was really that complicated. Did Wing intentionally hide these things from her? "But how do you even _know_ nen? You didn't just learn it by accident, did you?"

Ryuu shrugged. "Some people can, but I didn't. Hisoka was on a rampage in the city a few years ago. You remember that year when so many kids died? He was giving bursts of nen to every child he crossed paths with, and I was one of two who survived. I guess he was bored. He taught us everything we needed to know... so that we could become people worthy of killing once we _ripened._"

Ayaka couldn't speak. Her mind was a total blank. "But there were problems," Ryuu continued. "People whose nen channels get forced open, especially if they're young and inexperienced like we were... well, they get damaged randomly. Sure, I survived, but this part of my brain got wiped out." Ryuu poked his long index finger right at the center of his forehead. "Right here. The prefrontal cortex. You remember what the doctors told you, right?"

Ayaka remembered. But she didn't want to say it.

"Yeah," Ryuu chewed on his dry bottom lip. "It's what separates us from other animals. It prevents us from doing inappropriate things, from thinking disgusting thoughts... stops us from doing whatever we want, whenever and wherever. Well, mine got broken thanks to Hisoka's nen... so I did those things to you when I grew old enough to know I could. I'm no different from an animal, living on instincts. I deserve to be in a place like this."

He glanced at Ayaka's injured arm and his scowl returned. "So right now, I just want to kill him. I'm probably going to die trying, I know that... but I don't care. So step aside, Aya."

And Ayaka did step aside... over to where Hisoka stood. Involuntarily, mind you. She felt a sudden strong pull on her injured arm, wrenching her away from Ryuu and towards Hisoka's un-paralyzed arm, which seemed to move as she moved. "That's a good girl," Hisoka chuckled, patting his heavy warm hand on her head. "Remember when I kissed you? I put some Bungee Gum on you that time too. Right here." Hisoka took her arm... and licked her bloody wrist.

The cool air chilled the moist spot, and Ayaka shuddered. What. The. Ryuu's bloodshot eyes grew murderous. He really, really wanted to kill him now.

"Hold your horses," Hisoka said as he winked at Ryuu. "Today was just a routine check-up, and the verdict is... you aren't ready yet! I'll give you six more months. If you still aren't good enough to eat, well, your boring sister can take your place, can't she?"

* * *

><p><em>A life without regret<em>

_The tongue of truthfulness_

_I will never forget_

_Your ruthlessness_

* * *

><p>"You were losing," Aya smirked in triumph as she was dragged along by Hisoka's Bungee Gum. They were on their way back to the Arena. "Ryuu was kicking your ass, and you retreated."<p>

"Is that what it looked like?" Hisoka sighed, finally able to move his hand freely. "I guess mosquitos really have tiny brains."

"Ryuu's going to kill you, you know."

"I don't mind. If he can, that is."

"He can, and he will."

Hisoka stopped in his tracks and turned to look at her. She raised her brows haughtily, quite the rebellious brat. "Just a minute ago you were about to wet your pants," he said, smiling as he stepped closer. She didn't flinch, not like she used to, and it definitely amused him. "I thought you were, I dunno, scared of me?"

"I still am," she said frankly, smiling back. "But I'm too happy right now to care."

He chuckled lightly. "Happy? Happy about what? Or did my nen damage your brain too?"

She shrugged. "Just happy that I have a real reason to learn nen now." She walked past him and winked. "I'm going to kill you before Ryuu does. That is, if you don't mind."

* * *

><p>End of Chapter Seven!<p>

How did you guys like it? I seriously didn't know where it was going half-way through writing it. I couldn't sleep just thinking about it. But I think I like how it turned out. It could definitely be confusing, but I tried my best to explain things in a way that people outside of my head can understand, since sometimes, you know, I tend to forget that people are just people and not people who can read minds.

Please let me know what you think by leaving a review! And speaking of reviews, I need to start reviewing for finals. Thank you for reading!


	8. A New Level of Monstrous

Hello, everyone! I've been gone a while, huh? Sorry about that. One word: school. Nerd alert! Nerd alert! Just kidding. I hope you're still interested in my story, because not a day went by without my daydreaming about it. I still like it very much, so... here is an update!

Pretty short, but I hope you like it.

Disclaimer: I do not own Hunter x Hunter.

Here we go!

* * *

><p><strong>Spotlight<strong>

**Chapter Eight: A New Level of Monstrous**

* * *

><p>Ayaka watched as hoards of people threaded their way in and out of the colossal tower that was her workplace. Today was her day off, yet there she was, spending her freedom sitting idly underneath the widespread canopy of a giant apple tree just outside the building. It was a bit out of place, this tree. There was a small plantation of other trees just a hundred meters away, but this one stood by itself, isolated, taller and thicker and much healthier than the others. But the trunk, it was pretty beat up. The bark was all scratched up and torn away, passionately and repeatedly battered. A lot of the Arena's losers must have come here to vent out their frustrations.<p>

Ayaka stood up and dusted the dry soil away from the bottom of her denim shorts, then wiped her sweaty hands on her white cotton shirt. Slowly, she reached for the trunk and set a flat hand on its rough skin, closing her eyes to feel more through her fingertips.

_Everything in this world has energy._

She could hear Wing's annoying voice in her head. Why did he have to sound like an outdated instructional video every time he opened his mouth to say something?

_Dead or alive, beast or human, object or non-object... they all have energy._

Ayaka took a deep breath and paused. She held the air in her lungs.

_All you have to do... is believe that it's there. Trust in it. Surrender your heart. Do you understand what I'm saying, Ayaka?_

She parted her moist lips and slowly released all the air she had taken in. Yes, she understood.

_Nen is a religion. It is _your_ religion. There is nothing more important than your faith in it._

Ayaka opened her burning eyes. Faith? She had faith.

After all, the tree was glowing a beautiful bright shade of green.

* * *

><p>Ayaka frowned. The black half-circles under her eyes were two shades darker than usual, and despite having gotten nine solid hours of rest, she still felt tired.<p>

"A _dream_," she mumbled to herself. "A stupid dream. Are you kidding me?"

She clenched her fist and punched the DOWN button for the elevator, prompting a soft chime from the speakers above. _Like I would spend my DAY OFF sitting under a tree like some girl on a picnic. _No. She would spend a whole day in the cafeteria. She would eat all the dessert they had to offer. She crossed her arms and tapped her flip-flopped foot impatiently against the carpeted floor, eyeing her reflection on the elevator and mentally cringing at her appearance. She was still in her flannel pajama bottoms and a plain white shirt, and it was already two in the afternoon.

Was she so desperate to master nen that even her own _brain_ decided to deceive her that she had? It's been two whole months since the whole rendezvous between Ryuu and Hisoka... and two whole months since she vowed to kill the latter. She's been training for it. Really, she has.

In fact, she was pretty damn close to mastering Ten, which kept her nen from leaking out, allowing it to flow throughout her body along with her own natural circulation. It took her six weeks on top of Wing's initial training to do it flawlessly, and two more to do it without thinking, even in her sleep. Eight weeks in total. Other people, she heard, could learn it in three minutes.

But Zetsu - like what she apparently mastered in her dream - was a completely different story. In order to see or even sense the aura of another body, she needed to _stop_ her own flow of energy completely, which was like... like sipping soda through a straw, but suddenly pausing mid-way. Mid-drink. Mid-thirst. She didn't like drinking soda anyway. How did she even believe for a second that her dream was reality?

The speakers chimed again, and the doors opened.

"Why hello there, Raccoon Eyes!"

What. Rotten. Luck.

Hisoka. The damn psycho was already on the elevator. She hastily turned to the side and headed towards the Emergency Exit, sweat instantaneously seeping from the pores of her face. She would much rather run down a million steps than spend two minutes with-

"Where do you think you're going?"

Hisoka suddenly tugged at her loose shirt, and before she could even squeak out any sort of protest, the doors connected with an imaginary loud BAM!, sealing away any hope for escape.

"What's the big deal?" she barked as she pulled away from him and fixed her shirt.

"Is that how employees should greet their customers?" he said with a smirk, and she flashed him a good frown.

"It's my day off. I don't have any obligation to be nice to you."

"I would agree with that, except the last time we crossed each other's paths while you were working, you bit me. That's not being nice, is it?"

Did he have to mention that stupid incident every damn time? She trailed her gaze from his annoying smile down to his muscular bicep, adorned with the crescent-shaped scar in question. An impression of her teeth. She looked away. She wasn't in the mood to be playing this guy's games and besides, the last time they've even so much as exchanged words, she was telling him that she was out to murder him. Any sort of confidence she had then was now gone, so she purposely avoided any job in the Arena that presented even the slightest chance of bumping into him. So...how was she supposed to face him right now?

Not to mention she was currently a complete mess. Pajamas, a bedhead, and chapped lips. Well, at least her nails were all nice and painted. A glossy rose.

"Am I the first person you've seen all day?" Hisoka continued to talk. "Lucky~"

Ayaka turned away from him, refusing to participate in any sort of interaction. Any person in his or her right mind would either kill him or run away from him, and since she had a score to settle, there was no other answer. She had to kill him.

Only... it wasn't as easy as she thought it would be.

"How's your arm?" he suddenly asked with a smile. "Must have hurt, hmm? I made sure it did."

After he had bitten her wrist, her entire arm had swollen to thrice its size. It was fine now, but even the doctors were baffled by how much it had ballooned when she first went to the emergency room, even considering the possibility that some sort of potent poison was involved. Nope. It was just Hisoka and his... what? Venomous saliva? Was it possible to be allergic to another human being's spit?

"I hope it still hurts," he said. "That way, you'll always be thinking about me. Fuel your anger enough and maybe you'll really kill me eventually."

What... the hell. Psycho!

She made no effort to reply. Instead, she focused on the intricate swirls of the marble flooring. The elevator was pretty damn slow today, wasn't it? _Ding...Ding... Ding. _Maintenance did say something about recalibrating it today. How many floors more to go? She didn't want to look up. The reflective gold surface of the elevator walls would ensure some sort of eye contact. And she didn't want that. She didn't want to see his handsome face.

And then...

_CRRRRREEEEAAAAKKKKKK! _

The elevator slowly went to a complete stop.

* * *

><p><em>Every night,<em>

_I dream of you,_

_Darling_

_But you never_

_Dream_

_Of me_

_Ever_

_So tonight,_

_I will dream_

_Of you_

_Dreaming_

_Of me_

* * *

><p>Ayaka slammed her fist onto the red emergency button, then slammed it again and again and again. This was NOT happening. No. Nononononononono. The worst day of her life just got... worst-er!<p>

"Are they kidding?" she said as she cursed under her breath. "Are they doing maintenance _right now_? Can't they see there are people in here?"

She waved her hands in front of the camera, but nobody was responding. The lights above suddenly shut off, leaving them in almost total darkness, except for the soft glow of the small display monitor above, which showed that they were on the first floor, where the lobby was. What kind of rotten luck did she have?

"Really?" she shouted in disbelief. "They couldn't wait until we got off?"

Ayaka kicked the wall in frustration, and she could hear the hollow metallic echo of the assault outside. She kicked it again and again, all the while shouting, "THERE ARE PEOPLE IN HERE!" She kicked the doors, but they wouldn't budge in their slots at all. How long would re-calibrating an elevator take? Five minutes? Ten? Thirty? There were a million floors in the building! They could be stuck in there for a day!

Hisoka chuckled. His voice seemed much more sinister... much more intimate in the dark.

"What's so funny?" she asked as she scowled at him. "Right. People like you have nothing better to do, so things like this don't really matter to you. This is my _first_ day off in a long time and... ugh. You know what? Forget it. Shit. This sucks."

Ayaka sat on the floor and rested her head on her knees. How long was this going to take? The only good thing so far was that she got to sleep in, even past noon! But even that in itself caused her to have a stupid dream full of false hope. And then there was Hisoka. Just seeing him... it set off a lot of irritating warning bells. He really knew how to piss people off, didn't he? She wanted to punch him in the face. She wanted to hear the sickening crack of his nose underneath the powerful pressure of her knuckles.

Because... she still wanted to kiss him.

And if she could punch herself in the face for still wanting such a ridiculous thing, she would.

"Shit. This is so full of shit."

It was _wrong._ It was so, so _wrong._ There was definitely something wrong with the way her brain was wired. What the hell? Why did she still have dumb thoughts like, "I want to make him mine! Kya~" or "Kiss meeeeee! Kya~"

Maybe Ryuu wasn't the only one in the family who needed to be locked up.

"Such a foul mouth for a former babysitter."

Hisoka laughed again, louder this time, but she ignored him. She tightened her grip around her knees as she gritted her teeth. Her heart was beating too fast... her ears were hot. She needed to stop herself from wanting him. There was no happy ending with someone like him. She needed to get out of there, and quick! The sooner the better. She needed to get away from him. Right. The first thing she was going to do when she got out of there was hand in her letter of resignation. Well, maybe brunch first... and then a tray-full of dessert. And then the resignation.

_C-C-C-RR...CCCRRREEEAAAA... CCCCCRRRREEEEEEAAAAAKKKKK!_

Just then, the elevator was bright again, and Ayaka squinted as she looked up.

"Come on, little Mosquito-chan. Fly free."

She held her breath.

There Hisoka was, propping the elevator doors open with his back leaning against one side, and his foot pushing against the other! She could see the other side! The lobby! Bright, beautiful, and full of people! Like it was heaven itself! How could she have forgotten? Hisoka the Monster wasn't normal! He could do things like this like it was nothing!

"Thank you!" She said as she scrambled to her feet and rushed towards paradise. "Thank you, Hisoka!"

_BAM!_

Darkness.

Total darkness.

Hisoka had stepped outside before she could get through, and the doors slammed shut against each other, right in front of her. Hisoka was gone. And she was still trapped. He... just left her, didn't he?

In absolute darkness.

She looked up. The display monitors...where were they? Why couldn't she see them anymore? Did he... did he break them? When did he do that?

Why?

* * *

><p><em>Sing me a song<em>

_The same song _

_That you sing_

_To me_

_Every morning_

_Tell me_

_With your song,_

_That it is_

_Only meant_

_For me _

_To hear_

* * *

><p>Ayaka took a step back and stumbled over herself, tripping over nothing and knocking the back of her head against the wall behind her. "Ugh... shit." There was a sudden high-pitched ringing in her ears, the kind that made it difficult to think. Aside from that, she strangely didn't feel pain at all. She slowly lowered herself to the ground as she set a hand on the side of her head. Dizzy... she was dizzy. Her head was spinning... or something. She couldn't exactly check if the elevator was spinning along. Her eyes weren't adjusting to the darkness either, and damn, that ringing was really starting to piss her off.<p>

"Monster..."

Where did this cruelty come from? Wait. No. He's always been like this. Not that "always" meant anything since they didn't really know each other. She was just imagining things, wasn't she? The constant teasing he did, the little attention he gave her, and the bloodshed that they both willingly participated in... It was all just a game. Tom and Jerry. Captain Hook and Peter Pan. Hisoka and Ayaka.

_Drip... drip._

Ayaka's eyes widened. What was that? Her eyes, they felt kind of wet. Something was tickling her cheek. A bug? What could it be? She placed her hands over her warm face and... Was she...? No way. No fucking way. Was she crying?

_Ding-dong!_

_SHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH...SHHHHH-SHHHHHHHHH..._

White noise from the speakers! Ayaka felt a jolt of excitement through her chest. Were they trying to get in touch with her? "HELLO?" she shouted as she wiped her eyes and her dripping nose with her shirt. "Someone's in here!"

She felt the surface of the wall for the round emergency button and pounded her fist against it. "HELLO?"

"_He-llo_!" It responded electronically - the voice of a computerized woman with a slight accent she couldn't quite place.

"Oh, thank god! Hello!" Ayaka yelled. "Can you please tell Maintenance to open the doors? I've been in here for fifteen minutes! It's starting to get really hot and-"

"_He-llo, he-llo_," it repeated mechanically, with the same intonation each time. "_Can you... hear me? Mos-qui-to with the rac-coon eyes_?"

No.

Please.

No.

Her heart stopped. The excitement had gone. And if she could see her own face in this darkness, she would probably see a colorless ghost.

It was Hisoka. Hisoka was on the intercom. And of course, he was playing a game. A game with her.

"_Can you...hear me_?" it repeated. Same intonation again. Was Hisoka typing the words to be said from somewhere? The fake voice... it seemed scary to her now, knowing that he was the face behind it. "Y-Yeah," Ayaka replied bitterly. She gritted her teeth, bracing herself for what was to come. "I can hear you."

Silence for a few seconds.

"_Did you know? That there are... twenty... two... floors? Beneath the lob-by. For under-ground guest parking._"

"What?"

"_Did you know? That there are... twenty... two... floors? Beneath the lob-by. For under-ground guest parking."_

"I heard you the first time. What are you trying to say?"

"_Which floor are you on... right now? Mos-qui-to."_

"The first floor! The lobby!" Ayaka yelled, punching the wall. "Get to the point already!"

"_There are... twenty... two... floors? Beneath you. Right now."_

_SHHHHHHH-SHHHHHHH-SHHHHHHHH... SHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH._

Ayaka froze. Was he implying... what she thought he was implying? "Hold on," she said as she laughed nervously, raising her arms in the air, as though under arrest. "Hold on, Hisoka. What are you saying? You wouldn't, right?"

Few seconds of silence. He was typing.

"_If you do not... free your-self...in... ten... minutes? The el-e-vat-or will... drop? Twenty... two... floors._ _With you... in-side... What will... you do?_"

_SHHHHHHHHH...SHHH-SHHHHHHHH. SHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH._

* * *

><p>End of Chapter Eight!<p>

So? How was it? Did you like it? Hisoka is such a jerk. He should just go and pick on other people, but why won't he just leave Ayaka alone? I'll tell you why! Because he's a jerk. Haha.

Please leave a review and tell me if you have any favorite lines or hated this or that! I personally like how Ayaka thinks that just because her nails are painted, her bedhead and dry lips don't matter. Weirdo. Lol.

As always, thank you for reading!


	9. Let's Play With Legos

**Spotlight**

**Chapter Nine: Let's Play With Legos**

* * *

><p><em>Butterfly, butterfly<em>

_He's gone, he's dead_

_Why oh why do you cry?_

_Fly free instead_

* * *

><p>Nothing good ever happens in the dark.<p>

Ayaka figured that the moment the lights went out in the elevator, something bad was about to happen, like maybe she would faint from hunger or maybe she would accidentally pass gas and there was no one else in the elevator besides Hisoka to falsely blame. But she would have never thought of _this._ Of _dying_. She didn't think that the psychopath would choose such an indirect way to kill her, but hey, he was of the unpredictable sort.

So when he used that fake computerized voice to tell her that he would be dropping the elevator from a hundred feet in the air, inevitably killing her in the process, there was no choice but to believe him.

And when you're faced with death, sometimes you just lose it like any other normal person would – any reaction was acceptable, really. Except Ayaka wasn't so normal as it turns out. You see, instead of freaking out, she took a moment to find a comfortable spot on the cold marble floor, sat down, and just waited.

One minute.

Two minutes.

Three.

Quiet as a forgotten tomb. She wondered whether Hisoka would be the first to break the silence, but that was highly unlikely considering she had a knack for talking to herself, whether or not she was alone. And sure enough, her mouth opened on its own because it wanted say something... but nothing came out. Well, that was odd. She did it again a second time, and then a third, and then a fourth. Nothing, not even a croak! For the first time in her life, did she really have nothing to say?

Four minutes.

Five minutes.

Six.

Her palms began to sweat. Hisoka still wasn't saying anything. Weren't they quite the talkative pair?

Nothing good ever happens in the dark.

And then she realized. If she couldn't talk, what else couldn't she do? She tried to chew on her nails, but she couldn't even lift her arm. She tried wiggling her toes and blinking her eyes. Nope, she couldn't do those either. She was trapped! Trapped in the elevator, trapped in her mind!

Like playing video games with a broken controller.

Was it fear? No. She didn't feel it. Was it clarity? No. All she could see was darkness. Or was everything, as cliché as it sounds, just a dream? Maybe. Everything in life suddenly paled in comparison to whatever lightness of being she was feeling at that moment, and for some reason, she didn't want it to end. She wanted to stay there.

And then at the corner of her left eye, she noticed something. A tiny orange sparkle of light the shape of an asterisk. She wasn't quite sure how long it had been there until she noticed it, but it was definitely there, floating like an old burning star in the cosmos. She wanted to turn her head to inspect it further, to touch it, but her body overruled all of her commands.

Then it danced. Left, right, up, down, front, back, like a cha-cha. Ayaka continued to watch it, and the little sparkle watched her too. Nothing else mattered. They just wanted to watch each other forever.

"TIME'S UP!" Hisoka's computerized voice cackled on the intercom.

The lights sparked back to life, blinding her for a few seconds before she realized she could blink again. So this was it. Time to die. Why didn't she feel anything? Fear, anxiety, not even sadness. She stood on shaky legs and glanced to the left. The little sparkle was gone. Rude. It didn't even say goodbye.

"Well… bye, I guess…" she whispered to herself.

Then suddenly, the doors opened and revealed the grinning clown with his arms crossed over his puffed chest. Huh?

"You never fail to disappoint," he smiled as he extended a hand. His mouth twitched like he was angry. "You can come out now."

And like a toddler being set free from timeout, Ayaka eagerly took a step forward with one foot and reached out for his welcoming hand… and then she found herself falling backwards. The elevator had started to drop! She was going to fall and die after all! And…and Hisoka's wicked smile was the last thing she was going to see.

"Oopsies!" He reached for her outstretched arm and pulled her into the lobby, crushing her body against his like her life depended on it, because it really did. What just happened? Her blue eyes refused to blink, but there were no tears of panic brimming over. She couldn't breathe, she couldn't whimper. She couldn't even raise a hand to slap the guy who just tried to kill her!

There was… nothing.

A few seconds passed before she heard the big metallic coffin shatter into a thousand shrapnel shells, and only then did her knees crumple like paper beneath her. Hisoka caught her before she touched the floor, holding her steady. And so she hung onto him like a rag doll, all of her weight resting against his solid body, and for once, she didn't feel like kissing him or killing him.

And for the first time, too, he just let her be.

* * *

><p><em>Butterfly, butterfly<em>

_We tested your heart_

_Why oh why did you lie?_

_He just tore it apart_

* * *

><p>Ayaka silently watched Zushi as Wing put a thick fleece blanket over the sleeping child. Even in this state, the little boy's thick brown brows were tightly knit together like he was in battle. Probably dreaming about nen. Why did such a zealous boy want to master something so dangerous? Something that could be used to hurt other people? Something that could <em>kill<em>?

"So, you were saying something about a light?" Wing asked as he closed the door to Zushi's bedroom.

"Uhh…yeah," she replied hesitantly as she recalled the whole scene. "It was orange. Like an old star, I guess. At least that's what I thought at that time."

"Interesting." Wing exited their hotel room and she followed. He paused before the elevator and pressed the button. "Why don't we grab a drink and talk about it a little?" He walked into the elevator, but Ayaka didn't follow. She felt glued to her spot; her legs were just refusing to budge!

"Ayaka, you don't seriously want to take the stairs, right?" he asked as he pressed his finger down onto the OPEN DOORS button. "It's going to take _you_ at least twenty minutes all the way down."

She didn't answer.

"Fine," he sighed, giving up. "I'll go with you."

* * *

><p>Hisoka didn't like women very much. Machi was the only exception because the obvious repulsion on her face whenever he hit on her was entertaining to watch. The rest of the ladies were, well, too predictable and boring. Shower them some attention and they would try to give you everything in return. Ignore them, and they would try even harder.<p>

The little bloodsucking mosquito was no different. In the beginning, at least.

He barely even noticed the way she was drooling over him. Been there, done that. But then she kissed him on the arm one day, leaving a nasty scar on his otherwise flawless skin. At first he wasn't sure what it was that she wanted, and before he knew it, she had sunk her teeth into him. He thought that maybe she was the aggressive type, but then he realized later on that she had just wanted to save Zushi. What an embarrassing miscalculation. He had tried to kill her back then, and multiple times before and after, but Wing always got in the way. Sure, he could have just gotten rid of Wing too, but seeing as he sort of owed the nen master for teaching Gon a thing or two, he decided to spare him.

Her kiss didn't hurt anyway… but he wanted payback for treating him like a predator low enough to hurt little children. Well, okay, he _was_ a predator low enough to hurt little children, but it was only for their own good! Why couldn't the mosquito understand that?

And so he paid her some attention. Surely she'd take the bait and give him everything, and then the game would be over. So he killed Gustavo Brimstone since he pretty much humiliated her in combat, and didn't women like the whole idea of a man fighting for her? But no, she didn't like that. Freaked out, even. So he tried something else. He paid a visit to Ryuu-chan, whom he had been keeping an eye on anyway, and guess what? She didn't like that either!

There was no pleasing this woman, and the whole game was getting on his nerves. And whenever something bugged him, his natural response was to kill the source. And so he decided to do just that. All he wanted was for her to respond the way he wanted her to, then it would all be over. Surely she would offer to give him anything as long as he spared her life. He loved it when people begged for their lives. Did they really think he would give it to them?

But… no.

She didn't beg for her life. She didn't even get _upset_. Instead, she sat and waited for him to kill her. Not only that, she was calm enough to meditate! She had rejected him and… and _ignored_ him. Huh. He didn't like that. Not one bit.

But he didn't want to kill her anymore either.

He just wanted to play some more.

* * *

><p>Ayaka took a seat next to Wing at the bar. It was pretty empty for a Thursday night, save for a rowdy group of college-aged kids by the jukebox. They weren't even playing music.<p>

"There was nothing else you saw?" he asked as he set a warm mug of hot chocolate in front of her. "Yeah, that was it," she replied with a sigh. "I considered that maybe I was hallucinating, but… I remember it so clearly, so maybe I wasn't." She glanced at the mini marshmallow pieces floating on the surface of the chocolate-y goo, and then eyed the ice-cold beer in his hand. "I like your drink better," she said as she reached for his drink. Wing tentatively handed it over, but retracted his hand before she could even touch it. "Nope. You're underage."

She sighed. "I keep forgetting what it's like to have a responsible adult around me."

She grabbed the mug handle and took a sip of the warm drink. Wing downed his beer, heaved a big contented sigh, and then asked for a glass of tap water from the bartender.

"Water after one beer?" she teased. "A sixth grader can drink more than you can."

He didn't make any effort to retort. Man, this guy could be such a killjoy sometimes. They sat in silence for around ten minutes. It reminded her of the short time she spent on the elevator. Now that she had time to think about it, the inability to control her own body seemed less palatable than dying. She stole a glance at her silent teacher. He was gently tracing the lip of the glass, staring into space like he was bored. Well, sorry if she was boring company!

"Ayaka," he finally spoke, and she involuntarily stiffened at the sudden attention. "You said that you didn't feel fear when you were about to die."

"Oh…yeah. I didn't really think about it then, but I guess it _is_ pretty weird."

He took something from his pocket and placed it in his glass. It was a single green leaf, and it floated unperturbed on the surface of the water. "But you must have felt _something_," he insisted, sounding like he was arguing with himself. "Otherwise, your nen would not have manifested itself like that."

"Nen? You mean the orange sparkle?"

He didn't reply. Of course that's what he meant. Everything unusual in her life seemed to revolve around nen these days. "Wing? Hellooooo?" "Here." He pushed the glass of water in front of her. "I'm going against my own principles doing this since you're far from ready, but… I have no choice since Hisoka seems so bent on killing you now. Place your hands like this and perform Ren."

He steered her hands on either side of the glass and then stepped back. She was confused, but did as she was told. In terms of how far she's gotten in training, she could at least do Ren properly anyway. She closed her eyes and let the feeling of her own aura take over. Slowly. Slowly. Guide the warmth towards her hands.

"That's enough," he said. "Look."

She opened her eyes and… the leaf was dancing from side to side! As soon as she stopped releasing her aura, it ceased moving as well. Whoa. Did _she_ just do that? Again and again, she sent little bursts of her aura onto her hands, and each time she did, the leaf swayed on the surface of the water. She was a manipulator, Wing explained, just like Zushi was. It was a type of nen. Apparently there were different kinds and she could technically learn them all if she really wanted to, although he implied that she didn't really have the talent to do so. But she wasn't paying attention anyway. She was too excited.

"Why didn't you tell me about this until now?!" She jumped. "I can control people and objects!"

"_OR_ objects," he corrected immediately. "It's a rare exception to be able to control both."

"Can Zushi control both?"

"We haven't-"

"I bet he can! And I bet I can too!" She released her nen on the glass once more and watched as the leaf danced around the water's surface. It was like watching her hopes and dreams come to life. "Can you see it, Wing?! Watch! I'm manipulating the leaf!"

Wing sighed as he massaged his temples in frustration. "You aren't manipulating the leaf, Ayaka. It's simply reacting to your Ren… You know what? Never mind."

She ignored him and continued her bursts of glee… until one of the college kids from across the table told her to shut up. "We're trying to talk here!" a drunk girl shouted. Ayaka turned to look at them, remnants of her happy smile still plastered across her face. Like hell they were going to rain on her parade! "_You_ shut up or I'll manipulate all of you!"

She laughed at her own joke. They probably didn't even get it. Sure enough, the college kids all looked at each other like they had just heard the most ridiculous thing. Then one of the bigger guys, who looked like he was solely in college because of his football scholarship, walked over to her. "Say that again," he said, leaning forward so that his nose was right up against hers. Her smiled slowly faded away.

"Uhh… Wing?" she whispered. "A little help?"

The guy grinned. "Who are you talking to?"

Ayaka quickly turned around and sure enough, her only savior was no longer there. That traitor! Like he couldn't take a guy this big! Even the bartender went into the storeroom to hide. "Uhh… my friend's probably taking a bathroom break. He'll be back soon!"

Ignoring her words, he lifted her chin with a massive index finger and tilted her head upwards. Just how cliché was this bad boy? "Huh, you aren't that bad-looking," he said cheekily, his nostrils flaring. Ayaka wrinkled her nose in disgust; he reeked of alcohol. "Umm… thanks? Kids love my face, you know. So if you have a younger sibling I could babysit-"

He licked his lips and then suddenly leaned in for a kiss.

"WHOA! EWW!" she protested, raising her fist and punching him in the mouth. "WHO TOLD YOU IT WAS OKAY TO KISS ME?!"

The rest of the college kids erupted in laughter, pointing pity fingers at their rejected friend. _'Oww!' _she yelled in her head, glancing at her knuckles. She had punched the guy in the teeth, which scraped the skin clean off of her hand. Who knew that punching someone could hurt this much? _'Man, he's mad! I should probably get out of here!'_ She slipped through the exit and ran for the elevator. She pressed the up and down buttons frantically and glanced up at each screen by the doors. All of them were over a hundred floors up!

"Come back here, you little shit!" he yelled after her. "You hit me! How dare you hit me!"

* * *

><p><em>Butterfly, butterfly<em>

_You're going to die_

* * *

><p>"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Ayaka shouted back, feeling every ounce a pathetic girl. "I just don't kiss drunk guys because… uhh… I hate it when they forget about me the next day!" She glanced at the fire exit a hundred feet away. There was no way she was going to outrun this guy and make it outside. Why wasn't anyone helping her out? The people in the lobby were just pretending to be oblivious!<p>

While she was busy looking for another way out, he had caught up. He shoved her against the wall and raised his fist in the air to prepare for a good punch. Oh god, he was going to hit her!

"Ooh, what is this?" Hisoka's voice came from behind them. "Does the little bloodsucker need my help?"

Ayaka peered from behind the man. Did he just call her a bloodsucker? "No thanks!" she shouted with gritted teeth. "I don't need the help of someone who tried to kill me and my brother_._"

Hisoka crossed his arms and looked like he was legitimately considering helping her out. Then he giggled. "I wouldn't want to help you out anyway. You got yourself into this, so you should get yourself out of it."

The guy finally turned around to look at him. "Hey! Aren't you the legendary Floor Master, Hisoka the Great? I'm a big fan!" He immediately let Ayaka go and proceeded to shake the celebrity's hand as he gushed about how many matches he had watched and how much money he had won by betting on him to win. Then suddenly… blood. Blood everywhere. Blood on _her_.

Hisoka had thrust his arm through the man's torso and now he lay dead on the ground in front of them, his eyes and mouth wide open in a muted scream. "W-what did you just do?!" Ayaka shouted, pushing herself against the elevator in an attempt to distance herself from him. The doors suddenly opened and she slipped on the dead man's pool of blood, causing her to stumble into the elevator.

"I just killed him, of course," he replied, looking at his arm like it was a stupid question. "Wasn't he bothering you?" He stepped over the dead body and walked into the elevator with her, closing the gap between them and leaving a trail of bloody footprints behind him. The doors closed, locking them inside. It was happening again. Ayaka gazed up at him, frozen with terror. Oh, she was definitely feeling real fear now. "Say, do I get a thank you?" he asked with his trademark grin.

But she didn't hear him… because there it was again. The orange sparkle. Above Hisoka's head. She stared at it in awe, and just like before, it stared back. You could call her crazy, but it even looked like it was _waiting_ for her to do something. This was her nen, right? It was manifesting itself because she was in danger... right?

Hold on. What if it really _wa_s waiting for her to do something? What did she need to do? '_Think of something, Ayaka! Anything! He's really gonna kill you this time!'_

And for some reason - maybe her nen was truly communicating something - her thoughts zipped back to a few months ago.

* * *

><p><em>"My nen naturally circulates with my blood, so I can use it outside of my body," Ryuu said. "I'm of the <em>_Hoshutsukei __type. Any living thing that my blood touches, I can paralyze, but it has to touch that person's skin. The more blood on a person, the better and longer I can keep them from moving._

* * *

><p>That's it! Hoshutsukei. Manipulation. She and Ryuu were the same! If he could do it, so could she! All she had to do was will something to happen with all her might! Didn't it work that way? Wasn't it something simple like that? Well, she had to think of something fast! "Oohh. Someone's aura sure is getting stronger," Hisoka chuckled. "Are you planning something or are you just happy to see me?" He gently stepped on her hand as he grabbed a handful of her hair. "Come on. I'm getting impatient."<p>

She lifted her free arm and pressed her bloody fingers against the elevator wall. Blood? Ryuu used his own blood to paralyze people, right? Well, maybe she could use any kind of blood! She had plenty of the dead man's to use! She smeared the blood on the floor onto her own hands and then set her hand on the wall.

'_This is __made of metal... Metal can be painful, right? Come on, hurt Hisoka in any way you can! Come on, damn it! DO SOMETHING!'_

She shut her eyes tightly and sent a burst of nen through her fingertips, through the blood in contact with the wall... and then finally into the wall itself. Then…

**BAM!**

It sounded like a gun going off. Ayaka opened her eyes and shrieked. A small piece of metal in the shape of a square Lego block had just... catapulted out of the wall like a bullet and… and struck Hisoka in the face! The wall had a small puncture wound close to where she had touched it. Was that where the little building piece came from? Holy Legos! She really did it! But she had no time to be impressed with herself. Hisoka grabbed her by the neck and slammed her against the wall, snickering like a comedian laughing at his own joke.

"You… are…SO...MUCH...FUN."

Then he leaned in and gave her a long kiss.


	10. She's Thirty Years Old

Hello everyone! I am back with the hopes that you still like me enough to read my story. You see, every few months, I am plagued by the inability to go to bed at a normal hour. This is happening right now. Ergo, chapter finished. Huzzah!

This chapter explores more aspects of Ayaka's personality. You've only seen her as a hot-tempered wanna-be kung-fu fighter, and this chapter... has more of that. BUT. There is a BUT. BUT, you will see more of her vulnerabilities and her somewhat manipulative tendencies. Yes.

* * *

><p><strong>Spotlight<strong>

**Chapter Ten: She's Thirty Years Old**

* * *

><p>And just like that, Hisoka was gone.<p>

Seven months and counting.

* * *

><p>Ayaka coughed into the receiver of her cellphone. "Wing? Can you…augh… come pick me up?"<p>

She could hear him sigh deeply through the speaker, sounding very hesitant and a bit annoyed. This wasn't the first or second time that this has happened after all. "Fine, Aya. Where are you?"

She looked up from her spot on the pavement, which was conveniently next to the intersecting street signs that said "SPOOL ROAD" and "COPPEROPOLIS AVE" in big white letters, which she promptly read to him while holding back a cough. "And Wing?" She cleared her throat, tasting more blood in her mouth as she sat up and leaned against the pavement. Her left eye was swollen enough that she couldn't see through it anymore. "Can you hurry? I think they're coming back for me."

* * *

><p>Hisoka was definitely gone. He didn't have a lot of belongings to begin with, but all his closets and his personal security deposit box had been emptied out, and not a single trace of him was left. How could he just leave after he kissed her like that? She was so angry. So, so angry. She understood that he was a pathological liar, a psychopath, an outlier of society, and she knew, even before Wing had issued his warning against the man, that she was supposed to stay away, beyond the detection of his radar.<p>

But she knew. She knew. From the day that their eyes met, a clash of sky against sun, that he was the peanut butter to her jelly. She absolutely abhorred cheesy lines like that, lines recited only by Romeos in those sappy romantic comedies, and she swore to herself, after she had gotten her heart broken the first time as a young teenager, that she would never even so much as _think_ about words that she would most likely regret, much less say them out loud. Not to herself, not to her family, and not to any man.

But Hisoka wasn't just _any_ man. It was true that she had some difficulty believing that he was a human being at all, but she finally understood the whimsical dance that was his volatile life. She had understood it that day on the elevator.

She saw firsthand exactly what it was that he could do to a person who crossed paths with him, and the result was inescapable death - like a thick coat of bitter cold snow over a busy city, stopping cars and trains and people and killing them one by one until it melted away, murdered by the sun.

The guy he killed didn't even know what hit him. Just like that, he was no longer part of this world.

And... the thought fueled her. It energized her. Twisted as it may be, it made her insides burn and yearn for another game of Russian Roulette with the dealer himself. Who was going to die? The college football player. Who was going to live? Ayaka. If life itself was to be stripped naked of its superficial layers – take away jobs, money, fancy cars and technology – it was only just about survival, wasn't it? And that's exactly what Hisoka was all about. His appeal. His entire existence. He just wanted to see where he could go, fight with those who were worthy, so that he could discover his ranking in this world.

It was admirable. He knew what he wanted and he pursued it. While Ayaka lived her life by doing things for other people - for Ryuu, for the parents whose children she babysat, even for her own parents - Hisoka was living his life for himself. She was so jealous of him.

After he had kissed her, she called him crazy out of anger and confusion and happiness and more confusion. "But crazy is relative," he had said to her. Back then, she didn't know that those were the last words he was ever going to say to her.

She needed him. She felt so alive whenever she was with him. She couldn't grasp the reasons for loving him before, but she definitely acknowledged them now.

It was all about relativity.

How Wing was much stronger than Zushi, but weaker than Hisoka.

How Ayaka's feelings for Hisoka were competing with her familial love of Ryuu.

It wasn't like she was going to start killing people. It was still wrong, but she couldn't deny the intrigue that surrounded the concept of death. This whole game of kill or be killed, the game of survival, she just found it to be such a thrill!

* * *

><p><em>I long to sing<em>

_Songs of love_

_Songs of hope_

_Songs of sadness_

_But I don't really know_

_What music sounds like_

_Because I just can't_

_I can't hear at all_

* * *

><p>Ayaka's eyes fluttered wide open. Huh. So she had gotten some sleep after all. How many days has it been since she had slept so well? Her face and whole body was drenched with sweat, her hair sticking uncomfortably on her bruised and bandaged face. She felt somebody watching her. "Morning, delinquent. Here, drink this." Wing appeared by her bed and pressed a warm mug of ginger ale in her hands. She hated ginger ale. "Thanks," she said as she put her lips on the pretty china and pretended to sip the herbal concoction. "Mmm…"<p>

Wing cleared his throat. She rolled her eyes and took a real sip.

Satisfied that she was drinking, he leaned back on the desk chair and crossed his arms over his blood-spattered shirt. She stared at it for a while and wondered whether the blood was hers. "How many of my shirts do you plan to ruin?" he asked, sensing her inquiry. So it was hers. She pretended to drink again instead of answering.

"Ayaka…" Wing pulled his glasses away from his face and pressed his palm against his tired-looking eyes, shaking his head to further illustrate whatever negative feelings he was currently harboring. "You can't keep doing this. Picking fights with random strangers isn't the right way to get stronger and you know it. If you need blood to practice your nen, I'll give you some of mine."

"They weren't random strangers," she said in her defense, ignoring his proposal. "Those girls were playing hooky. Do they even understand how lucky they are to be in high school? If I had the opportunity, I'd never leave the campus and I'd ask, no, _demand _that we have homework everyday."

Wing rolled his eyes and shook his head. "You need to get over it, Ayaka."

"Get over what?" She knew exactly what.

"It's been seven months since he left. Snap out of it. If you don't quit torturing yourself, you're just gonna end up dead in a ditch somewhere. Is that what you want?"

Ayaka muted him out and instead focused her attention on the black and blue bruises that were scattered along the surface of her skin like tiny constellations. She couldn't ignore that deep Wolverine-like scratches too, courtesy of that Edward Scissorhands chick. There should be a law against fake nails.

Wing continued to talk. First, she was getting more destructive each day. Second, Hisoka didn't really care about whether she was getting stronger or not, he just didn't care about her at all. And third, she was being a bad influence to Zushi. Out of pure habit - a recently acquired one - she lunged at her teacher and pinned him down to the ground, raising her fist high behind her to punch him square in the face. He waited for the blow that they both knew was never going to come. "Call in sick today," he suggested, knowing fully well that Ayaka wasn't going to listen. "If you get into another street fight, I will forbid you from seeing Zushi. You hear me?"

* * *

><p><em>If there's no you,<em>

_There's no me_

_If there's no me,_

_There's no you_

_What kind_

_Of misery_

_Is that?_

* * *

><p>It stung. Wing didn't have to say it like that, even though he was undoubtedly correct. Zushi was like a little brother to her, and yet here she was, acting like a lunatic because she wanted to be a lot stronger, sooner rather than later. Setting a bad example to the only person who saw her with untainted, unbiased eyes.<p>

Seven months without Hisoka didn't go by as quickly as people like Wing thought. For her, every single morning was a struggle to get out of bed, an uphill climb, a trek in the Alps, and the only way to distract herself from the painful hatred festering like mold in the forefront of her mind was to bury, no, torture herself with work, which was the exact word Wing used to describe what she was doing. It was fairly accurate. She needed to retaliate against every single physical barrier in order to rise above the caste of normality that she was obviously wrongfully assigned to...

Because Hisoka was a beast and there was no taming him, she needed to become a beast herself.

So she made some drastic changes.

Using the elevator to get around was now forbidden. She forced herself to take the stairs. Two floors, ten, a hundred, she refused to complain. And it wasn't a matter of walking up or down either. She _sprinted_. Sure, she was often late for deliveries and she even passed out in a puddle of her own vomit in between floors a couple of times, but she was getting better. Faster. Stronger. Two months in and she could run to the fiftieth floor in two and a half minutes, stopping only twice to catch her breath. When people said it wasn't a big deal, she dared them to try it. They usually left her alone after they did.

Kitchen inventory duty was now a test of strength. She carried two at a time instead of the usual single sack of rice. It took her three whole months to build up enough strength to do it, really slow progress compared to Zushi's bench pressing, but it was getting easier. She could probably do three soon, two on her back and one in her arms.

What else?

Oh.

Sleeping was now an event of the past.

This, however, was not by choice.

The reasons that she came up with for her extreme lethargic lifestyle were lackluster at best. It wasn't that she didn't _want_ to sleep, she just physically couldn't do so anymore. She tried sleeping pills, chamomile tea, even hypnotism, but these resulted in an even more unshakeable restlessness from the fatigue, making her more antsy, more irritated. And what else could she do to relieve herself of the all-consuming anxiety but to push herself beyond what she was safely capable of doing until her body finally gave out and forced her brain to shut off for a few hours at a time? Unhealthy, yes, but it was better than dying from a bad case of insomnia.

* * *

><p>Zushi rested his head on Ayaka's lap. She absentmindedly caressed his short brown hair as she silently counted the number of people currently moving about animatedly in the lobby, arriving and leaving, a game they had devised to challenge and measure their visual acuity. Two minutes on the timer remained. This was originally Wing's game, but they had improvised from counting migrating flocks of birds in the sky, which was monumentally difficult for Ayaka at least, to counting people's heads instead. Her stopwatch beeped.<p>

"Okay, I counted...forty-three?" she asked indecisively, then quickly she changed her mind. "No... I think it's forty-four."

Zushi giggled. "Which one is it, Aya?"

She pinched his cheek playfully. "Fine, smartypants." She looked around and chewed on her lip. "Hmm...forty-four."

Zushi jumped up and smiled. "There were actually forty-seven. But you're a lot closer than last time! You're getting better."

* * *

><p>When she wasn't at work or training with Wing and Zushi, she spent most of her time discovering more about nen. Wing said it was odd that she and Ryuu had similar abilities, but they couldn't discount the fact that her close relationship with him and the fact that nearly all of her encounters with nen – with Hisoka it had been very bloody indeed – had molded her nodes to be very receptive to blood. In fact, he mentioned that one of his other students had a very special bond with electricity, being tortured with it as a child, which gave him the natural affinity to master it in a matter of hours.<p>

But she had easily found the key to the strength of her manipulations. By accident, of course, just as her first weapon – the failed Lego piece – had been a fluke. It happened the week after Hisoka had left.

Zushi had tripped while running in the building, slamming his nose flat against the hardwood floor and resulting in a very massive nosebleed from a torn cartilage. It was Wing's idea to use the small puddle of blood, to which Ayaka was very much opposed in the beginning, but eventually agreed in doing.

Focusing her energy and sending out a big burst of nen through her palm, through the blood, and finally through the floor, she had created something absolutely astounding. A long chunk of wood shot up from the ground – similar to how the metallic Lego block had shot like a bullet through the wall of the elevator – and fell into Ayaka's receiving arms. A kendo shinai. A beautiful wooden sword reminiscent of Zushi's fighting spirit and Ayaka's protective love for the little boy. But the constitution was weak – it broke in half as soon as she tried hitting the ground with it.

Since then, she knew that there was something missing.

A week later, she asked for Wing's blood, and the resulting weapon was even more refreshingly stunning. She used glass this time, sneaking into the ladies' bathroom in the basement and thoughtlessly smearing blood on the large mirror above the assembly of sinks, and then shooting nen through it. The entire 8-by-6 thin sheet of reflective glass shattered into tiny thumbnail pieces, first dropping to the countertop in large chunks and then, as if each shard had a life of its own, they all collected towards the center of the bathroom floor, growing like a seed into a small tree and then finally… formed a very glamorous sniper rifle.

It was like a disco ball, Ayaka mused, the way the little pieces of mirror had pasted themselves together around a perfect mosaic puzzle, reflecting all rays of light that happened to run upon it. She carefully picked it up and straddled it across her arms when a few mirror bullets fell to the floor. She had never used a gun before, but she knew how to put one together and how to load it. Guns were her father's only hobby.

But the bullets were the wrong size and didn't fit in the canister.

She was definitely doing something wrong, not that she was surprised that she came to this conclusion. She wasn't a natural like Zushi, so by those odds, she should be working ten times as hard and a hundred times as long.

So she practiced. And practiced. And practiced some more. She learned a few things.

The material she used to create these weapons didn't matter – whether wood or glass or metal or cement, Wing's blood would always make a sniper rifle and Zushi's would always make a sword. The football player must have really been a sad person if his personality resembled a broken piece of Lego.

The key was the very core, the very soul of the nectar itself, the worth of the person whose blood had been spilt. It was alchemy.

* * *

><p><em>They say that we are made of stardust.<em>

_That we are made of tiny sprinkles from the cosmos._

_Older than ourselves, than our ancestors._

_Then, isn't it fate how you and I,_

_Though made entirely of different sprinkles_

_From the infinite expanse of the cosmos,_

_Happened to travel through space and time_

_And meet here as flesh and blood?_

* * *

><p>Ayaka sat on an old tree stump in the center of the park. Tomorrow would mark the eighth month of Hisoka's disappearance. She convinced herself to stop counting the days because doing so only resulted in depression. She was being whiny and rebellious, and if she had been any other person watching her self-destructive acts of violence, she would be pretty annoyed at herself too.<p>

It was getting better though. Her anger came in waves that eventually dissipated once she gave it time or found something else to distract her thoughts.

She angrily grabbed the file box that was perched next to her and flipped it upside down, spilling all of its contents onto the grassy ground. It was full of unclaimed weapons from the lost-and-found bin at work, and it wasn't like Ayaka to miss a free ticket like that.

"Knife, knife, ice pick… a spinning top? What's a toy doing here?"

She sifted through the bag and made two piles: one for weapons she could actually practice with and another one for items to be returned to the bin. She started throwing the knives first since there were quite a number of them, even though she wasn't very good at the sport. Her target was Hisoka's playing card, the Joker that Wing had confiscated from her back when everything started. He eventually gave it back as a sign of trust.

The card was firmly tacked onto a tree trunk a distance of five meters away from her stump, already torn and beat up from her previous escapades. She started throwing.

Four out of ten knives had hit the card, but zero had hit the very center.

When she raised the eleventh knife next to her head, a warm hand wrapped around her small fist and before she could react, powerfully propelled it forward towards the target. It skewered the Joker's head. It wasn't exactly in the center and there was no evidence that it had been deliberately done, but it was obviously the intention behind the maneuver. "I think that would be five out of eleven?"

Ayaka stiffened. The voice was familiar, but she couldn't quite place it. She pulled away and turned.

It was Bryce Copperopolis, the recently crowned floor master of the Arena, the new tenant of the penthouse suite on Floor 251. He was the only son and heir to the Copperopolis Corporation, which was located in the long stretch of road that they also owned, where she had been beaten up by those school-skipping dirtbags, Copperopolis Avenue.

"Uhh…hi." She smiled. "That was some awesome throwing. I'm gonna pretend that you didn't help me out."

He was also quite the sight to behold. He had messy coal-black hair, long enough that he coolly tucked one side behind his ear, where a single black diamond stud rested expensively on his earlobe. "You were doing it wrong," he said unflinchingly as he stared at her with his sharp olive green eyes, hands now inside the center pocket of his plain gray hoodie. He seemed pretty spry for a floor master. "You also need heavier knives. These are crap factory-manufactured ones."

She nodded in response, her eyes tracing the features of his manly geometrically shaped face.

He had another piercing, a small silver hoop on the side of his bottom lip, which moved along with his mouth as he spoke. He was a very, very large individual, larger than even Hisoka and Ryuu, both of whom were the biggest people in her immediate circle. She wouldn't be surprised if the saying "built like an ox" was inspired by this guy's image.

What was a bit off-putting was his voice, deep as it should be but soft and reserved, and it was confusing the hell out of the information-collecting system in her brain.

They stared at each other for a while longer.

"I'm Ayaka," she introduced herself, grabbing another knife from the pile by her feet and handing it to him. "You're Bryce Copperopolis, right?"

From the look that he gave her, she realized that he didn't recognize who she was, even though she was one of only two people who frequently delivered room service to the top floor. Boy, this man could eat like a lion. He took the knife and threw it a split second later. Right at the Joker's crotch.

"You know me?"

She shrugged, completely enthralled by his deadly accurate aim. "Half the city knows who you are, but I've also been to your room lots of times." She lifted her dirty blond hair as if to tie it up, showing him what she looked like whenever she was at work. "Room service."

A spark of recognition flashed momentarily in his deep eyes. "Oh. Sorry," he muttered, picking up another knife and handing it over to her. "I'm bad with faces and names. I meet too many people."

Ayaka chuckled. He was quite curt for a celebrated person.

"I'm the opposite. It's actually one of my skills. After working this long, I've come to realize that by recognizing customers, I get fatter tips." She threw the knife but it failed to even reach the target. She needed to concentrate some more. "Oh, but let me teach you a trick. If you pretend to know a group of people, they're most likely just gonna go along with it. Human nature. Either way, that means more money. Ahh, but I guess you don't need to know that since you probably don't have to work and stuff."

It was uncharacteristic but not unusual for her to be blabbering in this manner. She was pretty talkative when it came to dealing with people who weren't Hisoka, but she was also extra friendly to rich customers who had a lot of loose change in their deep-pocketed cargo shorts. There was no downside to be friends with a floor master. She was no longer in need of money, but saving for a rainy day – or severe injuries, as was probably soon going to be the case with the way she was picking fights lately – was always a good idea.

"Oh," he suddenly blurted out. "You're the girl who runs up and down the stairs, aren't you? Honmei said you were a hard worker and that you were in love with the previous floor master."

Her jaw dropped to the earth's core.

"SHE SAID WHAT?!" She yelled at the top of her lungs, scaring a few birds nesting in the nearby trees. She started collecting the knives in confused panic and packed them back into the file box, stumbling on a tree root as she retrieved Hisoka's Joker from the trunk. "Honmei doesn't know what she's talking about. You know what? I actually hate that floor master! And so what if I do love him anyway? It's nobody's business!"

She placed the box on her shoulder and stormed off, thoroughly embarrassed. Her face was red. Very, very red. She had never even said such sappy things out loud to herself – and she talked to herself _a lot – _and here was this guy, big as a freaking truck, who just went ahead and said it like he was a reporter from the freaking Yorknew Times!

* * *

><p>Ayaka burst into the break room where Honmei was taking a nap. Good, this wayward boss of hers deserved a rude awakening! "I can't believe you!" She slammed her fists against the table, the loud vibrations detonating in Honmei's sleeping ears. The chatty girl shrieked. "What the hell Ayaka! Whoa, what happened to your face?"<p>

Ayaka realized that not only was she cherry-colored, but the bandages that Wing had painstakingly wrapped around her face were beginning to come off, revealing the mildly infected scratch wounds by her eyes. Did she look like this when she was talking to Bryce Copperopolis?

"You… you told people that I was in love with Hisoka!"

Honmei giggled as she rubbed the sleepiness from her eyes. "Well, aren't you?"

"Why? Why… why would you even tell people that? I don't go around telling people that you're actually thirty when you tell them you're twenty-three!"

This seemed to horrify her. "You wouldn't! I'm sorry, okay! I only told one person, a certain Mister Bryce 'I'm-super-cool-and-macho-and-perfect' Copperopolis. I tried flirting with him, but he wasn't responsive sooooooo I'm giving him to you! He's your age anyway!"

"What? So you told him I like someone else? Have you ever heard of this thing called logic?"

"Duh! Mister Copperopolis is definitely an alpha male. See how he didn't even bother with me when I was totally drooling after him? Guys like him want girls that are totally _not_ into them. It's a pride thing. You'll thank me one day when he asks you out."

Ayaka wasn't sure what to say. It was just so... so stupid. "And so you casually slipped in the fact that I'm in love with the old floor master to… to toy with his pride? So that… he'll like me? Are you on drugs?"

Honmei snorted. "Come on, don't pretend you weren't working your charms on him every time you delivered him food. He actually asked me about the 'room service girl.'"

Ayaka sat down and placed her hands over her face, exhausted from the non-stop outpouring of nonsense from her manager's mouth. "How about Machi, the other 'room service girl?' She just started working here last week, but did you stop and think that maybe he was talking about her? I mean, she's beautiful and he didn't even recognize me when I met him at the park. He must be talking about her."

"Yeah, he didn't recognize you because you're like a decomposing mummy right now." She giggled again, stripping away the bandages around Ayaka's face. "Besides, he was asking for 'the one who keeps running up and down the stairs.'"

* * *

><p>End of Chapter Ten!<p>

I had fun writing this one. I hope you had fun reading it. Let me know if you had any favorite lines! My favorite was "There should be a law against fake nails."


	11. Bryce The Bully

Hello everyone! An update for you. I am sick with the flu, so I stayed at home and worked on this for a week. Coolness. I hope you like it!

* * *

><p><strong>Spotlight<strong>

**Chapter Eleven: Bryce The Bully**

* * *

><p>Machi sat idly in the break room, impatiently waiting for the coffeemaker to finish brewing her gourmet dark roasted blend. Being in The Celestial Tower reminded her of that bastard Hisoka and how he successfully betrayed Kuroro with the help of the scarlet-eyed man. How did she fail to notice the very fake tattoo on his back even as he stood nearly naked before her? She shuddered with disgust.<p>

The door swung open behind her.

"Oh, I didn't think anybody would be in here. Hi there, Machi."

The golden-eyed Spider didn't return the greeting. She knew who it was anyway. Only two out of the sixty-something female employees ever bothered to learn her name, and one of them just so happened to be the reason she was there in the first place.

The newcomer plopped onto the seat across the table and slipped out of her pink baggy uniform, revealing a blue tight fitting tank top and over-worked arms. Every inch of her skin was riddled with scratches and bruises at different stages of healing, and even her face had faint signs of an old lingering infection. Didn't she care how ugly she currently looked? Machi didn't care enough to ask.

"You don't remember my name, do you?" the girl asked as she carefully folded her uniform and used it as a pillow. "It's Ayaka. A-ya-ka."

_Everyone in the building knows your stupid name, _Machi thought to herself, still silent. _You introduce yourself to literally everybody you meet._

Ayaka ran her fingers through her messy ponytail. "You know, I'm only telling you this because people who work here usually need the money… but you realize that when you don't smile or talk, customers won't want to give you tips, right? You're probably losing around… let's see… 20 to 30 percent."

Machi poured her coffee into a plain white mug and took a small sip. "I don't need the money."

"Oh… then why are you working in a place like this?"

Machi took another sip in silence when she saw Ayaka's patient expression. Oh, was she still waiting for her to say something back? Didn't she make it clear that she wasn't fond of pointless conversation?

Machi's phone suddenly rang and she immediately picked up the call. "What do you want? Right now? Fine, I'm on my way." Without uttering another word, she left the room, not bothering to bid her one-way friend goodbye. That was enough conversation with the subject today anyway.

* * *

><p>Bryce Copperopolis was reading an article from the <em>Combat!<em> magazine when Machi arrived on the elevator, having changed out of her work uniform and into the more flattering pastel pink kimono she used for her real job. "Let's see it," she demanded, walking over and using her teeth to pull out one of the sewing needles embedded on the pincushion that was tied to her wrist. Without tearing his olive eyes away from the page, he placed his bloody hand on the cotton towel on her lap. Three fingers were missing.

"Where is it?"

"Where's what?"

"The rest of your hand."

"Oh. Somewhere."

Machi fought the powerful urge to strangle him, but it was unwise to kill an employer who paid well enough that, by her calculations, she would have no need to work at all the next twenty years. She began searching for the severed fingers using _En_. Meanwhile, Bryce's cellphone suddenly vibrated on the table, indicating a message from an unknown number.

* * *

><p><strong>From: <strong>

Unknown (xxx-xxx-xxxx)

**Subject: **

Ayaka

**Message: **

Have u met her yet How is she

* * *

><p>Bryce hit the Reply button.<p>

* * *

><p><strong>Subject:<strong>

Re: Ayaka

**Message:**

Yes, I've met her. She's okay.

P.S. Learn some grammar.

* * *

><p>Bryce hit send. In a matter of seconds, he received a reply.<p>

* * *

><p><strong>From:<strong>

Unknown (xxx-xxx-xxxx)

**Subject:**

Re: Re: Ayaka

**Message:**

F u

* * *

><p>Bryce snickered as he looked about the big room for Machi. "Did you get to speak with Ayaka Benneteau at all?"<p>

"Sure."

"About what?"

"Stuff."

"Like?"

"How to pronounce her name and how much money I'm losing because I don't smile."

"You're useless."

As soon as Machi had located and repaired his fingers, which he had apparently severed while chopping a whole chicken in an attempt to make a homemade chicken sandwich, Bryce went to find the very girl in question.

* * *

><p><em>She who's winsome<em>

_Does not win him_

* * *

><p>Hisoka was sitting idly on a big oak tree somewhere in Redrum Island and he was bored out of his mind. On a whim he had joined the Redrum Island Contest, or RIC for short, an annual game where contestants killed everyone else until there was only one man or woman standing. This year, around ten thousand people had registered in the hopes of being crowned the Redrum King or Queen, but after the six-month mark, only three of them remained alive, and Hisoka was pretty sure that one of the two was grievously injured. For weeks he had been patrolling the big island by foot, calling his fellow survivors and pleading with them to come out and play with him, but of course they wouldn't show. He gave them some credit: they were very skilled hide-and-seek players.<p>

He checked his phone for any new messages, but his screen immediately beeped and went dead. Going to a re-charging station was risky since it was out in the open and smack in the middle of the island, but he headed towards it anyway.

As he was walking, he wondered whether the little mosquito had understood that the kiss was his goodbye present, but knowing her thought process, she was probably just angry. After all, she was always angry with him no matter what he did. She even called him crazy! Huh, like she didn't already know that.

He gripped his last deck of cards. It was time to end this game and return to the Arena.

* * *

><p>Ayaka sucked on a lollipop, the only meal she was in the mood for that day. What was Machi's deal? If it was up to her, she wouldn't have even bothered with such an unfriendly and anti-social character, but Honmei insisted that if she wanted to be considered for a promotion, she needed to get along with everyone. She was doing just that until the pouty woman came along.<p>

She cleared her sore throat and rested her head on her makeshift pillow once more. She had been feeling feverish since last night, experiencing pinching pains in her tired joints, a debilitating headache, and an uncharacteristic lack of appetite. She hated being sick.

"Might as well use this time to train. Nen, switch on!" She snickered. It was her new catchphrase. Wing and Zushi both believed that she had reached an all-time low, but so what? She felt cool and empowered whenever she said it out loud, like she was the heroine of a cheesy comic book that kids of all ages adored.

She closed her eyes, placed her hands on the plywood table of the breakroom, and concentrated. Nen flowed willingly through her body, traveling along the circulation of her veins and arteries and capillaries, through her heart and back again. Her ability wasn't just about creating something from nothing – it was about using her imagination to forge a weapon, to manipulate what was at her fingertips and mold it into something she could use. Kind of like building blocks for toddlers or play dough for kids who didn't eat everything within reach. She was a manipulator not of people but of objects.

And she sucked at it.

With nen, she could feel the smooth laminated surface of the wooden table, the four legs connected to the top board, the iron nails that held them together, the little bit of coffee that Machi had spilt a few minutes earlier. The sensation was phenomenal, almost addicting, like the moment she was handed the sealed white envelope containing her first paycheck sometime after middle school. But she had hit a wall. No matter what she did, she couldn't use any of the weapons she had created. There was some void that needed filling and Wing seemed to know exactly what the remedy was, but he was adamant that she had to figure it out on her own.

Defeated, she left the break room and almost bumped into Bryce. He had been standing right in front of the door, one hand situated deep in his pocket, smoking a lit cigarette like a talentless punk. He said hi. She said hi back.

"Bryce, you're not allowed to smoke in the building." She pointed a finger at his lips. "What are you doing down here anyway? Can I help you with anything?"

"No." He took one last puff of nicotine-filled smoke and killed the cigarette on the carpet.

She stared at the mountainous 6'7" man, his broad shoulders and thick torso, layers of hard trained muscle that were stacked everywhere, even in places she didn't think was possible. How could a man be so large? He was definitely an awkward one, only relying on short sentences and one-word replies to communicate with people, but he was definitely classically handsome enough to offset any potential ridicule from people who didn't know him. According to Honmei, he had been asking around about her, expressing curiosity on everything from her personality to the size of her feet, and it made her feel very, very self-conscious. She was about to leave him alone when she felt it. The terror. The forced knotting of the wires in her brain. She recognized the sensation immediately.

In a tenth of a second, she pushed her right foot behind her for support and leaned backwards. _Swoosh! _She watched in slow motion as his gigantic fist flew right past her face, almost making the briefest contact with the tip of her nose, a very fierce right hook that could have torn her head clean off of her neck had it been a hairsbreadth closer. Almost simultaneously, she threw her arms behind her head, pressing them against the floor in a gymnast bridge – which in the past she hadn't been flexible enough to do – and then, propelling her feet towards the air, she attempted to kick him in the chin. His reaction time was lightning fast. He caught both her legs mid-air and flung her against the wall like he was dusting an area rug, effectively cracking the paper-thin material and crashing her body into an empty room. She felt a sharp pain cut beneath her shoulder blade and screamed in pain. She definitely broke something, but there was no time to evaluate the injury.

She panted as she scrambled to her feet, the adrenaline pumping through her system a hundred miles per hour, and sprinted towards the nearest escape route. She had never been hit this punishingly before and it was frightening her. Was she going to die today? Those gangs of high school kids she recently went up against were like little ripples in a koi pond compared to this guy. He was a tsunami. No way could she take on this floor master all by herself!

He grabbed her ponytail and yanked her towards him. It was like being dragged into the deep ocean by a ship's anchor and she was definitely going to drown. She tried to remember what the self-defense class taught her to do back in middle school. Solidifying the series of instructions in her head, she turned theory into action.

Step one! Latch onto the assailant's arms and twist it in front of you!

Step two! Pull the assailant down with the help of gravity!

Step three! Smash his nose against your knee!

_Crack!_

She let go and staggered backwards, wincing as she felt a zap of pain resonating through her leg. Her knee was throbbing from the impact. Good. That should have done major damage to him as well. Or not. Her eyes widened in disbelief as she watched him compose himself in a matter of two quick seconds, straightening himself out and wiping his bloody nose on the hem of his camouflage t-shirt. He showed no signs that he even felt any hint of pain at all. "You look shocked? I'm a floor master, remember?"

She wiped the sweat from her forehead. Her fever was rapidly advancing and she was already exhausted after one attack against this mammoth. She was completely unprepared for this warfare. He wasn't just stronger and quicker, he was a million levels beyond her reach and weighed three times as much. She swallowed hard and took a few steps back to lengthen the distance between them.

"What do you want from me?" She reached into her pocket where she kept an easily breakable vial of Zushi's blood, wishing to the gods that she could make a sword that worked this time. With a sigh, Bryce tucked his raven hair behind his ear and scratched his clean-shaven chin, running his tongue against the piercing on the side of his bottom lip. "Why are you fighting back? You aren't going to win."

She sent him an incredulous look. "Well, why are you fighting me at all?"

He took his cellphone from his pocket and clicked a few buttons. "I'm sorry." His apology sounded genuine. "I just wanted to learn more about you. I didn't think you'd react in this manner. Whenever I'm in a fight, you see, I just… like to win. Always."

She found herself sneering at him. "And you think that wanting to win all the time makes you special?"

He re-tucked his hair behind his ear and stared at her. He wasn't sure if it was a trick question.

"Tell me, have you ever met somebody who doesn't like winning? Or better yet, somebody who enjoys losing?"_  
><em>

He held his ground and didn't speak.

"So you decided to pick on me because I'm weaker than you?" She snapped her fingers to get his wavering attention. He continued to stare. This was definitely a trick question. "Let me get this straight. You _attacked_ me because you were sure that you'd win...because... you like the feeling of winning."

He nodded once. Ayaka frowned from the insult. "Unbelievable. Have you ever heard of choosing your battles? What, did you think that winning against me would constitute a real victory? I admit that I'm no match for someone like you, but knowing this makes me fight harder because in the off-chance that I happen to be the winner, that means that I've earned it. But if _you _win, you wouldn't have earned anything at all. Why don't you pick on somebody your own size? Raise your standards a bit? I hate bullies like you."

He didn't answer. Ayaka suddenly realized that their little moment in the park, the time he spent teaching her how to throw knives, wasn't him just being nice or even altruistic. He was simply showing off. The bastard was showing off and she didn't even know it! Hisoka liked showing off too, but he was different. He only counted true victories if it was an opponent deserving of his strength and, sure, he killed weaker people too, but in his own twisted way, he didn't even count them because of his pride.

"I'm sorry," he said again.

"Quit saying that. Quit saying things you don't mean."

"No, really. I'm sorry. I don't want you to hate me. I don't want Ryuu's sister to hate me."

* * *

><p>End of Chapter Eleven!<p>

DUN DUN DUN. How did you like it? I know it's short, but it felt complete as a chapter. Please make my day by leaving a review and let me know what you honestly think!

Ayaka really needs to learn when to shut up.


	12. Bloody Redrum

Hey everyone! Rather than apologize for the extremely lengthy absence (do people even read these things?), allow me to just thank everyone for their continued support. And other stuff. I've been getting PM's and the like and it's been wonderful knowing that people like my stories enough to see how I'm doing. I am alive! Just busy! THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart (I always imagine hearts with butts when I say this line lol) and please don't bust out your voodoo dolls just yet!

* * *

><p><strong>Spotlight<strong>

**Chapter Twelve: Bloody Redum**

* * *

><p>Ayaka learned the hard way that any other person holding the title of "floor master" was just as deadly as the man she scarcely knew. But what had she done to incur the wrath of Bryce Copperopolis?<p>

In a matter of seconds, she was sprawled on the nasty hallway carpet on her way to unconsciousness, bleeding heavily from a cut just above her temple. This was nothing like sparring with Zushi. She was going to die. The pain throbbed like a festering blister inside her skull and for the first time in her life, the thought of dying didn't seem all that bad to her.

Bryce hadn't just punched her or whatever. There was something else, nen probably, that made his attack as painful as fire burning her skin. But why had he done it?

During their brief encounter, he had received a text message and then suddenly whispered a curt "sorry" under his breath. Half a blink later, Ayaka found herself on the ground. How he had managed to inflict the painfully throbbing wound on her head without moving from his spot she couldn't quite say.

But that did not matter at the moment.

All she could acknowledge was how terribly weak she still was, how pitifully and hopelessly insignificant her hard work had been all these months… and the startling reality that no amount of training, no amount of time would ever allow her the slightest chance to be on equal footing with Hisoka.

And it stung.

When she came to, she was alone on a small sailboat. Someone had taken the liberty of wrapping her head with sterile-smelling bandages for her, but the pain was far from gone. It took her a little more than ten minutes just to think clearly, and another ten more to brace herself to sit upright. She smelled like sweat mixed in with salt water and it made her want to puke.

As a vulture-like creature flew overhead, she decided it was about time to get up and figure out where she was.

She stood on shaky sea legs as her surroundings danced back and forth along with the miniscule waves that went _SWOOSH_ every time she made a step; had the shore been any less calm, this would have been close to impossible.

There was something burning nearby. A sign of life.

The boat she was on had been carelessly tied to a lamppost and was docked by itself on a private pier. The wooden planks of the dock looked old and worn, the embedded nails holding them together rusty and brittle. Where in the world was she? Squinting her eyes and scrutinizing the floors more closely, she was able to make out watery footprints that led from the boat and into the forest. She glanced momentarily at the sky – the sun was burning bright and hot but the air was thick and humid. Since the footprints hadn't completely dried off yet, there was a big chance that whomever had left them was still close enough for her to catch up.

Or what if they were left there on purpose for her to find and follow? Wing's face briefly flashed in her mind and she wondered what he would have done in this situation, but she didn't know. Maybe she had deluded herself into thinking she and Wing had gotten closer over the last few months.

She hopped off of the boat and took a deep breath. She was on her own.

Instead of sand, the shore was riddled with a variety of colorful rocks and stones, some large, some small, some very sharp. She looked down and found that her tennis shoes had been discarded. What was it with people and confiscating her shoes? First Wing, now Mr. Stranger Danger.

She frowned. Bare cotton socks were not meant for the outdoors and she very much wanted to keep her feet unharmed this time. Wasn't there anything she could use to protect herself? The boat was completely empty save for a small flashlight, which she decided to take with her anyway since it was better than nothing. Whoever had brought her here – and who else could it have been but Bryce? – either did not care about her well-being at all or was a complete idiot who did not think things through.

But the most important question was… how did Bryce know her brother in the first place?

She grabbed onto the lamppost and hopped onto the steadier pier with a loud _CREEEAAAK._ Then it happened. Before she could take a step further, a blinding force shoved her back onto the boat. _BAM!_ Nen. Oh, this was rich. This place was under somebody's surveillance and now they knew that she was up and about.

It was only then that she realized where she was.

The colorful stony shore.

The abandoned pier.

The smell of something burning…

Burning flesh.

This place had been featured countless times on the Arena's TV screens. It was so popular that it had its own cult following among the more hardcore patrons, many of whom never returned to the Arena because they presumably died. This was the gate to hell.

This was Redrum Island.

* * *

><p>Hisoka licked his already moist lips. He had killed everyone on the island except for one particularly evasive nen user whom he had been trying to locate nonstop for the past two weeks – a young man, no doubt. Whoever he was, he was probably really tasty. He could barely contain his excitement.<p>

* * *

><p>Ayaka passed through the island's nen barricade after activating her Ten and followed the footsteps. This felt completely different from how she usually passed through Wing's or Hisoka's barrier, though she could not exactly describe how. Still, compared to Hisoka's brick-like wall, this was much easier to swim through.<p>

She had walked about a mile inland before she encountered her first corpse. There was an arrow lodged deeply into the skull's eye socket and another on the chest close to where the heart would be, but the creature was so far beyond the peak stages of decomposition that Ayaka could not tell if it was male or female. She covered her nose and continued on, pursing her lips tightly to reduce the urgent feeling to expel the contents of her stomach. Her time at the Arena did not at all prepare her for a garden of rotting humans.

Maybe she should have stayed on the boat. Besides, the muddy footprints were beginning to thin out and she was sure that if she continued further down, they would eventually disappear. She had just decided to turn back around when someone grabbed her from behind, one hand covering her mouth and the other pinning her arm by the small of her back. She shrieked silently and instinctively raised her foot, stomping on the man's little toe with so much force that he yelped and let her go.

Without turning back, she darted towards the trees away from the paved road, only to be captured by another man who had jumped down from one of the thicker branches.

"Aya, stop! It's me!"

The voice failed to register as she grabbed the flashlight and hit him on the side of his head, not once pausing to see the damage she had done. The man groaned, a few droplets of his blood finding their way on her face as she ran past him.

"Aya! I said… stop!"

In an instant, she felt her eyelids shut like she had been possessed by the demon of sleep, and being unable to see the large tree root in front of her, she eventually tripped herself and fell face first into a puddle of mud.

Her ears rang as she struggled to breathe, watered down earth gurgling into her mouth and forcing her to gag. _GLUG! GLUG! _A few seconds later, someone had grabbed her shirt and pulled her before she drowned in the dirt.

"Aya! You're okay. Shit, he probably heard us. Bryce, cover us, will you? We'll meet you down south."

"Don't tell me what to do!"

"Just do it! Or we'll both be dead before sundown!"

* * *

><p><em>Beating heart,<em>

_I'm still alive_

_Air in my lungs,_

_The last breath_

* * *

><p>Ryuu brought her to a cave the size of a janitor's closet. Sleeping bags, electric lamps, and food wrappers littered the floor.<p>

"Sorry about this, Aya," Ryuu muttered as he ushered her into the small space beneath what looked like a small hill. His voice bounced off of the walls and it was chilly inside. "Here. You can sit right here. Don't run away, okay?"

Ayaka scoffed. "Ryuu, this is ridiculous. This is Redrum Island, you know? Redrum Island! What kind of trouble have you gotten yourself into this time?" As soon as the words left her mouth, she felt an immediate alteration in Ryuu's mood. She pursed her chapped lips and regretted lashing out. It's been so long that she had forgotten how to act around him, though seeing the way his face had darkened forced her to remember everything like it was yesterday.

She stiffened and fell silent.

"I need your help, okay?" he said firmly as he gripped her shoulder and dug his nails into her skin, making her wince. "Hisoka's going to kill you. Sure, he's here right now, but he plans to do it after he's been crowned the Redrum King."

_The Redrum King. Winner who killed all._

He looked out the cave like the man in question was right there, and she couldn't help but look out as well, just in case. There was nobody there.

"What?" she blurted out. "I have no idea what you're talking about, Ryuu. Let go of me."

Ryuu's nails dug in deeper. He was really angry.

"I said, let go!" She shoved him aside and sat on the opposite side of the cave, caressing gentle fingers over the newly broken skin of her shoulder. Ryuu's bloodshot eyes were riddled with disbelief as the realisation set in, but Ayaka knew exactly what was going through his abnormal mind. "I'm not the same anymore, Ryuu," she said gently, taking care not to offend him in his delicate state. "I'll fight back. Whoever it is, I'll fight. Even if it's you."

After a few controlled breaths and a hard punch to the cave wall, Ryuu sat back down, allowing his anger to subside and the lines between his brows to un-crease. He rested his face in his hands. The space was so small that their knees were almost touching. "Sorry," he muttered. "Sorry."

Ayaka clenched her fists, unable to relax despite his apology. In the past, things would have gone differently. She would have apologised instead, assures him that it was okay, maybe even insisted that it was her lack of control and intelligence that caused their predicament, but she didn't. She couldn't do any of that.

"So… care to explain what's going on?"

Before Ryuu could supply an answer, Bryce had landed noiselessly by the mouth of their hideout. He was carrying a small dirty lunchbox, which he promptly tossed to Ryuu. "I found this. Should last us a few days." Ryuu cracked it open and spilled its contents onto the dusty floor.

"Ten bars of NutriPro. Good job, Bryce. Where'd you find it?"

"Up north by the boat. It was in some dead chick's backpack."

Ryuu distributed three to each of them, putting the last one back into the box as the emergency ration. Ayaka's mouth went dry. She was hungry, very hungry, but she wondered if the "dead chick" Bryce stumbled upon was the same corpse she had seen on her way there. She was going to eat a dead person's food supply, and somehow it felt wrong.

"You look confused," Bryce said as he tore the wrapping paper and shoved the whole protein bar into his mouth like it was air. "Ryuu, your sister looks confused."

"That's because she's wondering how we know each other."

"Oh…" Bryce chewed twice and swallowed. "It's easy. We've known each other since we were kids. Uhh, well, we're Hisoka's children."

_Hisoka's students._

Ayaka remained silent.

"Uhh… Oh, also, Ryuu asked me to look after you while he went on a clown hunt, which was why I was invited into the Celestial Tower. But recently he learned that Hisoka apparently wants you dead, so… Ryuu asked me to bring you here. He's been texting me non-stop. See?"

Bryce presented his log of texts, which were full of stupid details like what Ayaka had eaten for dinner or how much time she had spent with Wing that day. Ryuu's spelling and grammar were horrendous, but that wasn't important.

"You were _spying_ on me?!" she blurted out. Bryce shrugged in response. "Not exactly. I hired a hitman to do most of the work. You met her, right? Machi?" Her jaw dropped. _Machi_. _No wonder there was something so off about her! _

She sank down into her stone stub of a chair and sighed. "All right. Okay. Sure. So… If Hisoka wants me dead, and I'm not saying that he hasn't already tried to turn that into reality, why bring me here? Why deliver me straight to the devil himself?"

The two boys looked at each other and responded in unison.

"This is the last place he'll look."

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><p>End of Chapter!<p>

Short but sweet.


	13. Message In The Mud

Hello, everyone! I hope you like this one. Yes, it is shorter than I want it to be, but I doubt I can chug a decently sized chapter with how my schedule is these days. Regardless of length, I hope you enjoy!

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><p><strong>Spotlight<strong>

**Chapter Thirteen: Message In The Mud**

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><p>Ayaka took the first watch. She couldn't fall asleep if she tried. She glanced briefly at the moon, partially hidden by the stringy night clouds and Redrum corpse smoke, and wondered whether she'd truly die this time around.<p>

Redrum Island had been featured so many times on the Arena's screens that she felt like she almost _knew_ the place, in a strange, almost dream-like sort of way. Every year, the game masters would switch up the layouts so that nobody had any initial advantage, although many of the competing candidates were expert hunters and trackers who could outline a map within a day. So many people died here. For glory. To be crowned the Redrum King or Queen was like being crowned the deadliest person alive.

Come to think of it, she shouldn't have been surprised to know that Hisoka had been here all this time.

She glanced at the two sleeping kids behind her, particularly at her younger brother, the last remaining living contestant other than Hisoka. _Do you remember that year when so many kids died?_ Ryuu had told her in the past._ I was one of two who survived._ Who would have thought that she would meet the other one too?

Ryuu was a lot bigger than the last time she had seen him. He was probably at least 6'10" by now. He grew that much in a matter of months; was his growth spurt ever going to end? But he looked haggard and tired of life, the tips of his banana blond hair tickling his broad, sunken shoulders. And that beard. He looked like an ageing man, not the 16-year-old he was supposed to be. Bryce was just as big, but in a different way. At 6'7", he wasn't quite as tall as Ryuu, but what he lacked in height he made up with beefy slabs of muscle meat all over his mammoth frame. While Ryuu was lanky and quick, Bryce was bulky and solid.

They were complete opposites who got along like identical twins.

So Ryuu had a friend all this time. But why was Bryce so… normal? He was just like any other teenager, living life carefree and liberated, while her younger brother was imprisoned like a criminal. Why? …WHY?

Bryce stirred inside the compact cave, tossing and turning before finally sitting up after a few minutes. "I can't sleep," he announced indifferently. "I can't seem to trust you." His words were as straightforward and curt as usual. "Then don't sleep," she replied in a similar manner. She was too mentally drained to mind her conduct anyway, so she was happy when he obliged immediately and sat down next to her, just outside of the cave. She could hear Ryuu's light snoring behind them. It was a bit awkward, she felt, to be talking to someone so closely other than Wing or Zushi. Besides, she hadn't forgotten how Bryce had blatantly attacked her because he wanted another victory under his belt. So petty.

"The game masters haven't discovered us yet," he said as he twisted his head around to scan the area. "So don't ruin it by stepping on a mine or native trap. There are plenty out there." Ayaka rolled her eyes at the insult. "They won't discover us unless we want them to," she countered matter-of-factly as she drew patterns on the dirt with her finger. "The island is self-sustaining. They literally just drop people off on ships and leave them here until the last person standing lets them know. I guess in this case… it's either Ryuu or Hisoka. And I'm not letting Ryuu die." Death never seemed so real until she said it out loud. A fight to the last breath.

"You seem to know a lot about the island," he challenged, to which she shrugged apathetically. "I watch a lot of TV." She felt his harsh olive eyes on her; they looked even darker under the half-moonlight, made more menacing by the shadows under them. After a long moment's hesitation, she took the opportunity to ask. "Ryuu's brain is messed up," she said nonchalantly, choosing her words carefully. "I was wondering if-"

"I have a similar defect?" He interrupted her without remorse. "Since I'm a victim of forced node opening too." Ayaka was startled by his plain sailing deduction, a bit embarrassed of her presumption that he would be unwilling to share anything remotely personal. She swallowed hard. "Well, do you?"

The silence marinated in the darkness before he even seemed to consider answering her. He scratched his stubbled chin thoughtfully. "Do you remember when we first met?" He asked his question ruefully, she noticed, like Pandora's box had just been ripped open and he was still deciding whether to allow this conversation to happen, but discerning that it was already a little too late to stop it. She nodded in response, recalling the day in the forest where he had shown off how well he could throw knives at a target. "I remember."

The silence dragged on for much longer this time and it made her uncomfortable. Was he playing some sort of guessing game, some sort of would-he-wouldn't-he type of scenario? She wasn't in the mood to play, not when Hisoka was quite literally lurking in the woods nearby. "Then, do you remember what I told you?" This made her roll her eyes again. "No. Sorry, I'm not one of your groupies. I don't cling onto everything you say or do." She bit and softened her voice a bit. "You didn't recognise me anyway, Bryce… considering how many times I delivered your dinner. You thanked me so kindly each time, but it's like… I guess you didn't really _see_ me."

"That's probably because I'm blind."

* * *

><p><em>Are you with me?<em>

_I am hugging this figure_

_Loving this body_

_But you've been dead_

_For so many years_

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><p>It was difficult to believe. How could Bryce Copperopolis, the Floor Master, the resident of Room 251, the heir to the biggest corporation in the country, be blind? He walked like a champion, battled like a warrior. The boy had a <em>cellphone<em>! How could he exchange messages with her brother?

"I can see, you know," he said, shrugging like it was nothing new. "I can see that stupid look on your face right now." She was suddenly self-conscious as he looked at her. Or… at least turned his face to seem like he was looking at her. He was lying! He definitely was. Maybe that was his damage. Maybe he was a compulsive liar. "I can see that your hair is long, but I don't know what colour it is. I can see that you have no shoes on and that you have ten toes, but I don't know if they're painted a certain colour. Well, unless you just had a pedicure, which you usually do, in which case I can smell the varnish on your-"

"Let's not talk about what my feet smell like, please. You're suddenly very chatty."

Bryce ran his tongue against his bottom lip piercing and shrugged. "I didn't recognise you in the forest because you had your hair down. You usually have it in a ponytail, right?" She considered this for a moment. "And my voice? You couldn't recognise it?"

He pushed his raven hair back behind his ears and titled his head as if to show her something. She wasn't certain how she had missed it until now, but attached to the base of his tanned ear like an oversized earring was a glassy globe with a tiny battery floating inside. A hearing aid. "Both... both sides?" "Both."

She looked at the ground now, feeling bad about all the hasty judgment calls she had made about him the past few days. Well, he was still pretty unreasonable for wanting to fight _her_, a weak nen master wannabe, but he probably wanted to prove something to himself. What it was she wasn't quite sure, and she wasn't comfortable enough with him to ask.

"I didn't know it was you in the woods," he said for the second time, furrowing his brows deeper towards the center as he traced his lip piercing with his tongue again. A bad habit, she thought. "I knew you were a girl because of your high pitch, but nothing beyond that. You all sound like robots to me."

She nodded. She wondered if he could see her agreement, too.

They were silent for the rest of the night until Ayaka's shift finally ended. Bryce finally set himself down in the cave, resting on his side so that there was enough room for her. When Ryuu went to expel the contents of his bladder before beginning his watch, she stationed herself next to Bryce and closed her eyes. "Don't," he said briskly, almost angrily. "I can see that you're crying. You need to stop that right now."

She wiped the tears she didn't know he could see and let out and audible long _SNIIIIFFFF._ She bit her shaking lip. "Sorry," she uttered sadly, wiping her nose with her dirty shirt. "Sorry that happened to you."

He yawned. "No one's sorry but you."

* * *

><p>By sunrise, they were all up and eating what remained of their share of breakfast. Ayaka was too hungry this time around to pass up the dead person's granola bar, which she finished in two bites. <em>CRUNCH, CRUNCH, <em>swallow. She had hoped there was water around to wash down the dry and grainy meal, but there was none available. "Is there a water source nearby?" She asked as she hoisted herself up a tree and looked around. "The layout in the last Redrum contest had a lake up north and a well down south, but I doubt it's still the same this year."

Bryce wiped his lips with the back of his hand as he finished his last bar. "Why don't you lead the way?" He suggested. "You found us quickly yesterday. Good tracking skills." She blinked at his compliment, remembering how she had managed to barely escape their clutches after thinking it was an ambush. "But I was just following your footprints, Bryce," she said flatly, refusing to accept his praise. She did not have any prior tracking experience, they knew that, and if not for the mud trail he had left her, she would have never found them.

But Bryce and Ryuu suddenly froze at what she had said. What? What did she say this time? They looked at each other cautiously, with panic-stricken eyes and thinly-lined lips that screamed something was very, very wrong. "Are you sure, Aya? Are you sure they were footprints?" Ryuu had hastily grabbed her elbow and pulled her against him, causing a flurry of suppressed disgust to pour out like an opened dam that was immediately dampened by unadulterated fear. Anger was strewn plain as day on his ashen face. "Yeah!" She blurted, unready for the outburst much unlike yesterday. "From the boat to you guys… They... They... They led the way."

She gritted her teeth and jerked herself free, swiftly taking a great number of steps back from where they stood as a cautionary measure. She bit her lip harder than she had intended, allowing a small line of blood to trickle down to the tip of her chin. "I thought Bryce left them so that I would know where to go." She tasted metal on her tongue, reminding her of Hisoka's flavor the day she had attacked him to save Zushi. Her mouth watered. Her mind fired.

Bryce wouldn't have left footprints, she realised. More appropriately, he was good at _covering_ his tracks, which was why Ryuu had asked him to do just that when they first reunited the day before. Besides, it would have been too risky with Hisoka around like that. Why didn't she see it sooner? Of course those weren't Bryce's footprints! The reality hit her like a suicidal bullet to the mouth.

She croaked a few words, her own feeble statement shattering what little remained of her own self-confidence. "Someone else is here."

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><p>End of Chapter!<p>

How did you like it? As always, please and thank you for leaving a comment/review about anything in particular. I'm always unsure about whether I went in the right direction and if my writing skill is sufficient enough for storytelling.

Thank you for your support!


	14. Defensive Trout

Hello everyone! Thank you for still keeping up with me! That is all.

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><p><strong>Spotlight<strong>

**Chapter Fourteen: Defensive Trout**

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><p>There was silent panic among them, hearts beating wildly and breaths unsteady like a bunch of broken metronomes. The sun suddenly hid behind some feathery clouds, like it knew something was about to happen, that they were all in danger. Almost immediately, everything around them seemed that much more menacing. Every rustle in the bush was an assassin, every bird flying overhead was a spying vessel.<p>

Ayaka assumed she had it the worst, particularly because she wasn't used to being dropped into an arena of anything-goes-as-long-as-death-is-involved. At least the Celestial Tower had some rules that most people pledged to follow. But for the two boys, it was probably just another day.

"Let's think about this for a second," Ryuu chimed, glancing at Bryce for the briefest moment. "There were footsteps that led from Aya to us. From the boat to the hunting grounds. None of us could feel him." Bryce shrugged. "Or _her_." Ryuu nodded. "Or her." Another pause before Ryuu continued, his voice dampening to a barely audible whisper. "We can assume that one, whoever it is, he isn't after Aya. Otherwise, he would've taken action at the docks. And two, he probably knows about the cave, so we can't go back there."

Ryuu fished out three scrunchies from his shirt pocket and gathered his banana-yellow hair in a loose ponytail. He handed the second to Aya and then the third to Bryce, who seemed to understand what the plan was immediately. She hadn't realised that they all had similarly lengthy hair. "Why are we pony-tailing ourselves?" she asked, struggling with her sticky dirty blonde hair, combing out the stubborn knots with her dirty fingers. Oh, how she wanted a shower right then. "We're going swimming." Ryuu promptly hunched down in a runner's stance, and Bryce followed suit. "We'll go slowly, but try to keep up, Aya. And stay behind me. Bryce will watch your back."

Without any further instructions, Ryuu pushed down against his foot and took off like a silent bullet, leaving a small cloud of dust where he had once stood. He disappeared from sight almost immediately. Was she seriously expected to keep up with _that_? She was gawking at her options until Bryce tapped her lightly in the shoulder and pointed towards the trail that the giant man left behind. "Just go. The fresher the tracks, the better coverage I can provide for all of us."

Ayaka wanted to ask exactly how he covered their tracks. Did he use palm leaves to sweep the prints away? Did he run different directions to mislead the pursuer? Bryce shoved her harder this time. "Go _now_."

Embarrassed, she bolted as fast as she could, bare feet chasing after her brother's larger prints. She needed three steps for every single one of Ryuu's, but she was running surprisingly well. The physical stress from Bryce's assault initially boggled her brain for a few minutes as it competed for more oxygen, but if her shoddy training made her even the least bit better at anything, it was running, and she had gotten pretty good at it. It was like being in the Arena again. Up the stairs from the lobby to Floor 251, the type of running that only came easy after the human body broke down once, twice, too many times to count. Her legs burned as the muddy earth of the terrain slackened her pace. Her heart was beating against her sternum like a caged beast, but five minutes went by, then ten, then thirty, and her body felt at ease despite the abusive wind that came with her clocking speed.

She ran past the dense shrubbery and greenwood of the forest, past the random puddles that were occasionally deeper than they appeared, past the monuments of the nine Redrum champions of the last decade, until finally she saw Ryuu nestled cautiously in a vast clearing surrounding a lake. The place was bright and beautiful. The water was a clear cyan and the sunlight gleamed on the surface to create tiny sparkling stars, revealing the freshwater fish that swam just a few feet beneath the surface. She could probably make that for lunch if they were there long enough.

"You made good time." Ryuu seemed almost impressed. "Bryce should be here soon. Get in the water." He grabbed her hand, small but calloused now, and pulled her in with him. It felt really good. She hadn't really felt this nice in a long time. The cool water soothed the burning ache in her muscles and appeased the throbbing pain in her head. The dampened bandages unwound from her flaky scalp, but the damage had almost healed up. Bryce was already there.

Without a moment's hesitation, he dove headfirst into the water and torpedoed towards the lake's floor. He seemed at home here despite being blind. In fact, he seemed to be even better here than on land.

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><p><em>He took a sip<em>

_A trickle_

_A drop_

_And he was reborn_

_A child of the ocean_

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><p>The water was no longer water. There was no other way she could describe it.<p>

"I'm floating." She kicked off from the bottom of the lake and floated slowly upwards like a balloon reaching for the skies, like there was very little gravity holding her down. "And I am talking. Underwater. Except this isn't water. This is like… what is it?"

Bryce wasn't responding. He had been sitting on the bottom of the lake for a while now, his hands by his belly button, his thumb and four fingers connecting with each other by their tips forming a sphere. Eyes closed. Lips closed. All senses closed.

"Bryce is special," Ryuu began, poking a large fish that seemed to swim by his face in slow-mo. "With the way he fights, you'd think he was an enhancer. I think only Hisoka knew what he was really capable of back then. A specialist. _Tokushitsukei_.I was his best… only friend… but he kept it from me too."

Ayaka watched the marine wildlife continue around her as though nothing was amiss. She was moving around like she was in water, floating and sinking as though she was in water, but she could hear, breathe, and see as though it wasn't water. It was like swimming in lukewarm nen. It didn't feel very stable, but she felt safe.

"I've never met a _Toku_ type before," she whispered in awe. "So this is what it's like… to be special." She definitely felt even smaller now. If Hisoka was this kid's master, how powerful did that make Hisoka himself?

"We're safe here for the meantime," Ryuu said, looking up at the surface cautiously. "We're in a water prism that should protect us from whatever's beyond the surface. From what I know, the barrier is semi-permeable only to natural gases and extremely small particles."

Ayaka bit her lip as she imagined Hisoka jumping into the lake but landing painfully on solid ground instead. It was funny but if nothing as large as a human could get in… "This means we can't leave either…right?" She almost murmured to herself.

Ryuu looked at her, and the way he did made her suddenly feel unsafe. Just because they were on good terms now didn't mean she completely trusted either of them. Her brother was still very much a loose cannon and Bryce had already attacked her once. She should have been more careful from the start, but it was never too late to take some precautions. Ryuu sensed the accidental spike in her Ten and stepped away to respect her guard.

"You can leave the prism," he assured her. "But make sure that once you decide to leave, you fully commit to it. Get your full body out or else this might happen." He grabbed a fat trout from behind one of the bottom rocks and stuck half of its body, tail up, outside the surface of the water, with the rest of its body swimming freely in the prism. It flapped violently as it sensed the air, but as soon as Ryuu let it go, it was stuck in the prism's ceiling like it was dangling from a fishing line. A few seconds later, the prism zapped and cut it clean where its scaly body met the surface. It sank to the bottom of the lake, leaving blood and random fish guts floating by the prism's upper wall like Helium balloons against a ceiling. Its meaty tail rested above the surface of the water like a boat stuck in a glacier.

Ayaka gulped.

"I don't know much about it," Ryuu shrugged. "Something about water cohesion blah-blah and the air drying up the water so it breaks the water chains and water wants desperately to be with other water particles. I don't get it. Bryce was always the smarter one."

She didn't need to understand the science behind it. Between the two of them they had a serious lack of basic education, but survival didn't need a degree. If she had to leave the prism, she couldn't be swimming on the surface trying to reach the bank. She needed to jump out and within a few seconds be completely dry or completely away from the surface.

She gulped. How many victims fell under this trick? Dying underwater without drowning.

* * *

><p>Hisoka sported a deep pout. His prey had all of a sudden disappeared! This contender was extremely talented at hiding his presence so there was very little to go on to begin with, but in the past few hours, just about every single trace of him, be it his aura or smell, just vanished like a magic trick. Oh, but it made him excited, too. Extremely. This guy, whoever he was, had <em>Tokushitsukei<em> abilities. Like Kuroro! "My, my…" His mouth watered at the thought and the hairs at the back of his neck stood to tiny pointy prickles that tickled him everywhere. "I want to kill him so bad. I'm so hungry I could just about eat myself!"

He giggled at his own little joke. Oh, but he couldn't eat himself just yet because someone was waiting for him. Yes, she was definitely still there at that silly little tower doing silly little jobs for silly little people. After he was done here, he'd go back for her and finish her in one bite.

* * *

><p><em>Love is a dish best served cold.<em>

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><p>From what Ryuu explained and from what Ayaka could understand, Bryce could read the water. It was an odd thing to say, but that's how it was. He could tell who had been in it, who had died in it, who had drank from it. Based on the sheer number of visitors per day, there was a good chance that the lake was the only viable water source in the entire island. Hisoka and the other stranger were bound to come here at least once today.<p>

Sensing everything took some time, and time was expensive these days. There was a small probability that the stranger had followed them to the lake, and like any nen fortress, this prism wasn't perfectly immune to everything. She wasn't good at this stuff, calculating risks and exploiting weaknesses. As far as she was concerned, they were pretty safe, unless, maybe…

Her thoughts were cut short when Bryce opened his olive green eyes and stared blankly ahead. Now, she didn't know him for very long, but there was something about his face that seemed almost like concealed alarm, and this frightened her.

"Hey, Ayaka," Ryuu smiled when he felt the change in her demeanour. "Remember what happened to the fish I showed you?"

Why would he ask that? Of course she remembered. It happened like two minutes ago. "What about it?"

"You better be careful too," he continued. "Accidents happen when you least expect it."

He was trying to tell her something.

* * *

><p>Hisoka was pretty thirsty. Not for anything else but for water this time. He would've drank from the lake as usual, but there was something bothering him as he stood on one of the large tree branches overlooking the clearing. Someone familiar had been here very recently. Very, very recently. But he was nowhere in sight! It was odd. Yes, it was very odd because there were absolutely no traces of him ever <em>leaving.<em>

* * *

><p>Ayaka decided that whatever Ryuu was trying to tell her didn't matter because the fact that he <em>couldn't <em>say it outright only meant one thing.

_He's in the water_ _too_.

Bryce certainly knew where he was hiding, but telling his companions would tell the intruder that they knew he was there. And whoever it was, well, seemed to be waiting for them to make a move. Three against one seemed a bit ambitious, but they didn't exactly know who or what they were up against. After all, he was fast enough to follow them _and_ slip into the water undetected. Ayaka casually looked around for a weapon. Nothing but mossy stones and trout. And sand. Lots and lots of sand. She was going to be useless in battle if all she could do was make broken weapons. She barely survived the short-lived rendezvous with Bryce, how else could she go against someone of this caliber? The two kids would end up just protecting her flimsy ass, and she didn't want that.

She blamed Wing for a second. He had told her that there was one more piece missing in her puzzle of nen, but he wouldn't tell her what it was or what she could do to find it. What kind of teacher left you hanging like that? She had had enough. She grabbed two large trouts and crushed their heads with a rock. "Sorry for the violence," she muttered. Dark red blood immediately diffused into the water surrounding her, a cloud of rusty iron perfume.

"What are you doing?" Bryce asked blankly, to which Ayaka shrugged. "Literally a bloodbath, I guess."

The blind man furrowed his brows in confusion. He could not see her face, but he could read her confident expression clearly. "Why?"

She smiled and activated her palms with nen, "I'm not ashamed to admit that I'm completely useless in a fight, but I can help by staying out of your way." In a heartbeat, the trouts' blood formed little ruby-like spheres that remained suspended around her limbs and torso, forming clean lines that followed the outline of her figure. "And because I am extremely bad at offense, I've gotten good at defense." She stomped her heel against the sandy floor, awakening a pollution of dust that slowly engulfed her whole body. Ryuu tensed when she disappeared within the cloud, but after another flash of her nen, a powerful vacuum from the centre of her torso seemed to suck in every particle of dust and every bead of blood. A firework of red sand burst around her, forming a matrix of beautiful crimson glass that layered itself on her skin.

She looked like a knight in shining red armor.

"Go do your thing," she said as she crouched down with her arms in front of her, a defensive stance. "I can protect myself."

Ryuu and Byrce were hesitant, but they knew that she was right. They wouldn't be able to fight effectively while watching out for her at the same time. The banana-blonde man looked at his oldest friend and gave him a wide grin. "Let's make it interesting, Bryce."

"I'm listening."

"Whoever deals the fatal blow to that guy over there gets to kill Hisoka."

* * *

><p>End!<p>

Thank you for all your support and please leave some feedback if you can!


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